HOW I READ MY FIRST BOOK

Asimegbe Samuel

Asimegbe Samuel's Profile

Asimegbe Samuel

Thursday 12 November 2026

HOW I READ MY FIRST BOOK

I was a boy who went to school,
Passing through classes, moving from one level to another,
Yet, deep inside me was a secret I could not explain:
I did not know how to read a book.

As I advanced from class to class,
My fear grew bigger with every new level.
The books became thicker,
The words became longer,
And the secret became heavier to carry.

I appreciate my daddy and mummy,
Who taught me how to write perfectly,
And bought me books they believed I could read.
But it was never their fault.
I never told them I could not read properly.
I kept my struggle hidden behind silence.

I remember opening my textbooks,
Not because I understood every word,
But because the stories inside looked amazing.
There were beautiful pictures,
Interesting adventures,
And well-detailed stories waiting to be discovered.

Yet, all I could manage were two-, three- and four-letter words.
I could see the story,
But I could not fully enter it.
The pages held a world of knowledge,
While I stood at the entrance, struggling with the words.

My classmates moved along with their lessons,
And I carried my own silent battle.
I loved Mathematics;
Numbers made sense to me.
But English was my favourite subject,
Even when reading it was my greatest struggle.

THE MAN WHO SAW BEYOND MY SILENCE

Things began to change when I met Mr. Joe,
A preacher in the Jehovah's Witness congregation.
He gave me a book titled Bible Stories,
And I was filled with excitement.

I was elated!
Finally, another book to hold,
Another world to explore,
Another collection of stories to admire.

Among those stories was Noah's Ark.
The story of a man who built an ark,
A story of faith, obedience and survival.
The pictures caught my attention,
And my imagination travelled through the pages,
Even though the words were still difficult for me to read.

What an interesting book!
I wanted to know what was written inside,
I wanted to understand every story,
But there was one problem I could not escape:

I loved books, but I did not know how to read.

Then came the moment I still remember.

Mr. Joe looked at me and said,
"Come, boy, read the first paragraph."

My face fell.
My eyes met the pages,
But my voice disappeared.
I became silent,
Not because I had nothing to say,
But because the words before me
Were a mountain I did not know how to climb.

Mr. Joe understood.
He saw what I could not explain,
Recognised the struggle behind my silence,
And took the matter to my parents.

From that moment,
Mr. Joe became more than my preacher;
He became my teacher,
A man who helped me face the fear
I had carried quietly for so long.

And sometimes I ask myself:

Was this just an ordinary meeting?
Or was there a greater plan unfolding?

Could I say God had a plan for me?
A plan to transform my weakness into strength,
To turn my fear into courage,
And lead me from the world of unread words
Into the world of education?

THE BATTLE BEHIND MY SUCCESS

Mr. Joe was not spoon-feeding me;
He was preparing me for a battle.
He handed me a gun to face a lion
When I could barely kill a cockroach.

The words I could not pronounce,
He patiently helped me through.
The letters that once looked like strangers
Slowly began to become my friends.

He was not just teaching me to read;
He was building something inside me.
Every word I conquered,
Every sentence I completed,
Was another brick in the foundation of my confidence.

But I must confess,
I was not always an obedient student.
Whenever I heard Mr. Joe was coming,
Sometimes I would hide,
Sometimes I would run away,
Because my friends were outside waiting to play.

After all, they always said,
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

I wanted to play.
I wanted to laugh.
I wanted to enjoy my childhood.
But I did not understand that someone
Was fighting for the future I could not yet see.

I thank God for my mother,
My expensive queen,
A woman whose courage refused to surrender.
Even when I wanted to give up,
She refused to give up on me.
Her patience became my strength,
And her encouragement kept the journey alive.

THE BOY WHO BECAME A SURPRISE

Then something began to change.

The boy who was once at the bottom of the class
Started climbing the ladder.
The one who struggled with words
Began to stand among the best.

My teachers noticed.
My friends were amazed.
Even I began to wonder
What had happened to the boy I used to be.

What a turning point!

The pages that once frightened me
Became doors to new opportunities.
The words I once feared
Became tools for expressing my thoughts.
The classroom that once exposed my weakness
Became a place where I discovered my strength.

And today, when I look back,
I see more than a childhood struggle.
I see my expensive queen who refused to give up,
A preacher who became my teacher,
And a God whose purpose I still reflect upon.

I remember the book Bible Stories,
I remember Noah's Ark,
I remember the excitement of holding those pages,
And the fear of being asked to read them.

Who would have believed
That the boy who could barely read a paragraph
Would one day stand proudly as an engineer?

The boy who once admired stories through pictures
Can now read, understand and tell his own story.

I was once afraid of opening a book.
Today, I am proud of the knowledge I have gained.

I am not ashamed of where I started;
I am grateful for how far I have come.

Because my story is not about a boy who could not read.
It is about a boy who was given a chance,
A boy who was taught to believe,
A boy who kept growing.

Asimegbe Samuel's Profile

HOW I READ MY FIRST BOOK

THE MAN WHO SAW BEYOND MY SILENCE

THE BATTLE BEHIND MY SUCCESS

THE BOY WHO BECAME A SURPRISE

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