CHAPTER 2: I.T.K. (I Too Know)

I had to wake up at 5am to prepare for morning mass. I was used to waking up much later at home and loved my early morning sleep. It wasn't easy to cope, but I had to get up and brush my teeth. The hostel prefect instructed us not to bother taking our baths; we were only to take baths at night.

I quickly brushed my teeth, washed up, and rushed to the chapel. While going to the chapel, I remembered Papa's words: "An early man is a serious man."

After the mass, the Principal, who had celebrated it, asked the new students if they had any complaints about the school. We all agreed that we were okay. One of us, a new boy came out and perfectly sang all four stanzas of the school anthem. In contrast, we mumbled through the first stanza. I felt humbled and intimidated because he made all the rest of us new boys look like we had come to the school to joke around. It took him one night to learn all that and sing it effortlessly.

The Principal made us give him three rounds of applause and encouraged us to strive to be like him and learn things on our own. The older students started calling the boy ITK (I Too Know), and we all joined them, even though we didn't know the exact meaning. That was the first of many nicknames to come.