HiveComb

Honestly, I must admit it took me a while to think on this particular topic. The question itself is dangerous and heavy, but when I sat with it, my mind kept returning to one person from my past: my biology teacher during my JUPEB programme.

From 2021 to 2022, I was enrolled in the JUPEB programme, which promised that if I could earn the required points, I would gain direct entry straight into the second year in the university. That goal gave me so much determination. I was ready to put in all the work to pass. My three subjects were Chemistry, Biology, and Agriculture, and while I faced challenges in all of them, it was biology that left the deepest scar on me — not because of the subject itself, but because of the man who taught it.

This particular teacher was male but very biased in his approach. He was clearly female-centered, showing much more attention, patience, and even favouritism toward the girls in our class. We were just three boys offering biology, but he treated us as though we were almost invisible — or worse, a burden. I remember one incident so vividly. I entered class exactly at the time it was supposed to start, not even a minute late, and he had already arrived. Instead of letting me sit, he immediately ordered me out of the class. I tried to explain, even my classmates tried to reason with him and even told him i wasn't late, but he insisted. He reported me to the school security and told me never to come to his class again.

What hurt more was the way he discouraged us boys outright. He would tell us plainly that there was nothing we could do, we were never going to pass the programme. He even blocked me from writing one of the tests, and that felt like such an unfair strike against my effort. The final straw for me came during the practical session of our external exams. He had managed to stylisly request to request some from the supervisor’s in our hall, then shamelessly started whispering answers to the girls. I just sat there, nodding my head in disappointment. Eventually, when he noticed some of us were catching on and could report him, he reluctantly began feeding a few answers to the boys, too.

By the end of it all, I scored a D in Biology, an F in Chemistry, and a B in Agriculture, which gave me a total of 6 points. To be honest, i wasn’t really suprised by my Chemistry result because I knew beforehand that i didn't do well, but then the biology result crushed me because I knew deep down I could have done much better if I had been given a fair chance. But then, I still found some comfort knowing I was admitted into agriculture, which was the course I truly wanted to study. But my disappointment in him has never left me.

So, if I had to answer the grenade question honestly, I would say my biology teacher. Not because I truly wish him harm — I don’t. But because of the pain, bias, and unfairness he embodied for me. In a way, that “room” represents my frustration and bitterness toward him, and throwing the grenade is only symbolic of how much I wish I could erase the experience of ever being taught by him.

Thanks for reading.