A simple word made up of four simple letters. Spoken every day without much thought. But beneath that simplicity lies a chaos most people carry in silence. Life is not a straight line. It’s not always laughter, nor is it always pain. It is often the in-between. It is the ache that lives in our throats when we smile through grief; the silence in our hearts when we feel surrounded yet unseen.
We like to pretend life is easy. We wake up, wear smiles like attires, walk past others with the classic “I’m fine” stitched into our voices. But no one is really fine. Not always. Some days feel like drowning in a pool of air; breathing yet suffocating. And the worst part? Nobody sees it. Nobody asks. Or maybe we’ve all just grown good at hiding.
There are people who laugh the loudest and cry the quietest. The class clown. The strongest sibling. The first Nigerian daughter, The brightest student. The smiling stranger on the bus. All of them fighting battles they can’t name because life has taught them that suffering should be swallowed, not shared.
Have you ever sat in a crowd and felt completely alone? It’s a strange emptiness. Life does that. It hands you moments that shake you in ways words can’t reach. One moment, you’re ten years old with your parents still dressing you up and playing video games with no care in the absolute world. The next, you’re older, everything is heavier and you start to really taste life. Friends fade. People die. Dreams crumble. And you still have to get up, smile, eat, and pretend the world hasn’t burnt a large part of you.
Sometimes, life gives you pain without explanation. You lose people who meant the world. You fail even when you try your best. You watch others succeed effortlessly while you’re stuck. It hurts. But no one talks about that part. We post the wins. We hide the losses.
But maybe; just maybe life isn’t about constant happiness. Maybe it’s about endurance. About standing even when your legs shake. About reaching for tomorrow even when today is bruised. Life is not a story of perfection. It’s a story of survival.
And here’s the twist: no one really knows what they’re doing. Not the adults. Not the popular influencers we see on TikTok and Instagram. Not the billionaires who seem to have their lives planned out. Everyone is just trying. Trying not to break. Trying to be happy. Trying to feel alive.
So, the next time you look in the mirror and see someone tired, someone failing, someone afraid. Please, look again. What you’re seeing is someone living. Someone still fighting. And that is a quiet kind of victory.
Because life is not meant to be easy. And yet … you’re still here.
And that means something.
Oloruntobiloba Elizabeth OLAGUNJU
Class of 2027