Throwback Thursday: Textbooks, Heavy Bags & Legendary Teachers

It’s Thursday again and you know the vibe at OECS. In line with school resumption, our minds drift back to those days when most of us carried a temporary hunchback from bags stuffed with textbooks we didn’t always open. Parents made sure every single title on the book list was bought and soon enough, certain authors’ names became household chants. And of course—there was always that one teacher you dreaded encountering in the hallway.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s, our textbooks felt like epic sagas. New General Mathematics turned every number problem into a drama. Alawiye Iwe Karun-un by J.F. Odunjo gave Yoruba class its soul, while Akukubi and Tijapa Tiroko made proverbs come alive. Ababio’s New School Chemistry was like cracking secret codes and Modern Biology with its endless diagrams made plant and animal cells look like alien creatures.

English and Literature had their arsenal too—Longman English Dictionary, Macmillan English, Brighter Grammar, and unforgettable stories like Eze Goes to School, Sugar Girl, Koku Baboni, alongside heavy classics such as Othello, Macbeth, Animal Farm and Shakespeare’s eternal “Et tu, Brute?” in Julius Caesar. Even C.R.S. wasn’t left behind with Bible Knowledge by Evans Brothers. Physical Health Education had both textbook and workbook while Typewriting proudly held its own space on the shelf.

The list only grew—New School Physics, Economic Principles & Practice, Essentials of Physical Geography, Principles of Business (POB), Series for JAMB and NECO, Lasswell and of course, Further Mathematics (the one that truly tested your willpower). Owning these books felt less like schooling and more like preparing for battle.

Ah, the Heavy Bag Syndrome—real and undefeated. Shoulders sagging, straps digging into your skin, bags filled with books, stationery, snacks and sometimes even a water bottle. After-school lessons didn’t spare you either: leaving school straight into another classroom or tutor’s living room, still dragging that heavy bag. Solving past questions under dim lamps, yawning but determined, feet aching like you had run a marathon before dinner.

And then—the most feared teacher. Every school had one. They didn’t just mark your books; they left an imprint on your soul. The teacher who could silence a whole block with one stare. The one whose voice traveled faster than a bell, who asked surprise questions, demanded New General Mathematics open to page 57, Literature lines memorized word-for-word, uniforms spotless, and shoes polished. Their tests were whispered about days in advance. The night before their class, many of us lay awake, rehearsing formulas, reciting poems, or memorizing diagrams like prayers. Fear and respect mixed in equal measure—and somehow, they pushed us harder.

Looking back now, secondary school in the 90s and 2000s was defined by big books, heavy bags, after-school lessons and the legendary teachers who shaped us. The weight built endurance. The lessons built curiosity. The fear built discipline. We might have complained, limped home and begged for lighter bags—but those nights of sweaty, raw, determined studying under flickering bulbs shaped who we became.

Today’s kids flip through tablets and e-books. But for us, it was sweat, chalk, exercise books, and dreams carried on our backs. And truth be told—nothing beats that nostalgia.

So, as parents hit the bookshops this week and kids unwrap fresh texts for a new session, here’s wishing you strength for the shopping, patience for the haggling, and joy in watching the next generation build their own memories. Because no matter the century, school life will always be a mix of books, lessons, laughter and stories to last a lifetime.

Throwback Mantra: The weight of those textbooks wasn’t just in pages—it was the weight of our dreams in every lesson learned.