21 days on a moving train

Nothing prepared me for my moving train experience....

Dec 18, 2025

Hello my lovely readers, how are youuuu…..

Have you ever been on a train before? I have seen it in movies, read about it in books and even been told how it is in a moving train, but nothing prepared me for my moving train experience.

A train is programmed to only make stops at it's station. It doesn't stop whenever it wants too because every of it’s movement is timed, unlike a car that can pull over by the side of the road to take breaks, a train can't take such breaks and this is why I liken my nysc orientation camp experience to a moving train.

Photo credit: Me

I have heard the stories of camp: the early morning, the drills, the military, the parades, the late nights and I thought I was prepared but little did I know and the truth? is you can never truly be prepared for such an experience.

I arrived camp with so much expectations but it wasn't what I expected. My first few days in camp was a hassle. I had issue with registration because I forgot a document (my advice to any PCM, if your document is all you have to take to camp please do, you can always get other things there in camp), I arrived the very first day the camp gates opened but I was only able to finish my registration on the day it ended—this is a miracle.

I cried my tears dried from the frustrations I felt the first few days and made up my mind that I won't enjoy my stay in camp. I ruled out all the possible fun I could have in camp and wanted to be alone at all time, which failed because camp is a moving train and everyone is on board with you, so you cannot be alone.

I remember telling my friends and anyone who cared to listen my problems, how I didn't want to be in camp anymore and how I hate the place, and while casually complaining to a friend he said these words:

And like he said, it's just the first week everyone is trying to readjust and settle in and I was too but seeing others settle in while I was just stuck because of registration made it very hard.

It wasn't easy been the only one different amongst other PCM but it came with it’s advantages and disadvantages, I escaped the first few drills and parade in camp which led to me feeling left out. The first few days in camp are the time where people make friends, form bonds and even find potential love mates (but that's by the way). I didn't even attend the swearing in activities because I was waiting for my document that was on its way to me through waybill and I was just all over the place, wishing for it to be all over and by the time it came and I finished the registration, it felt like a heavy burden had been lifted off my head and what felt like the end of something was just the beginning of another.

After the swearing-in, the activities of the camp started in earnest, competition lines were drawn and it began. At this point we were all the same, no longer PCM but corp members in our official uniform (white on white).

The mornings are always EARLY, as early as 3 a.m, starting from the beagle noise piercing through your sleep, followed by the anthems and the annoying OBS crew member asking if we had a good night rest and as you prepare for the day thinking you still have time, there goes the whistle and the “Double up” song chasing us out of our hostels to the parade ground.

Everyone form lines according to their platoon, we sing praise and worship, pray and the announcements are made before the camp director’s addresses the corp members every morning. Our motto in camp was “no option” because you don't have an option, regardless of how you felt at any point, the train keeps going and you are on board.

We retire back to our hostels, get breakfasts and prepare for the lectures. The long hour lectures sometimes funny, sometimes boring, sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes just noise floating above your head as your brain shuts down from exhaustion. The SAED classes follow afterwards, with some people arguing, some pretending to listen while others are sleeping. The 5 hour lecture ends and we are only given 2 hours to rest, eat and we are back to the parade ground under the hot sun practicing while others sit on the ground watching the others march.

The evening ends with the sports activities, which I mostly miss and after that we are thrown into the chaos of the night called “social night”. Everyone is present in the hall; hot, sweaty and tired and after a few moments of fun by 10:00pm we are chased back to our hostel for the night. And as I lay in bed thinking about doing all this again the next day, I am crippled with exhaustion and eventually pass out. This cycle continues for the next 21 days and eventually you just get with the program and move with it.

Well....

There is a loneliness in camp that no one talks about, the loneliness doesn’t always come from being alone. Sometimes it comes from being surrounded by everything — yet feeling like nothing around you understands you.

And camp was like that.

It is an ever-moving train, a world where the schedule drags you forward whether you are ready or not. You wake up before light, you move to parade ground, you march, you stand, you sit, you listen, you wait, you rush, you run… everything is fast, and somehow everything inside you feels slow.

There were days I probably smiled and joked with people but still felt a hollow silence sitting somewhere in your chest. Days everyone else looked like they were adjusting — blending in, making friends effortlessly, taking pictures like camp was fun — while I was still learning how to breathe through the weight of being far from home.

Camp magnified my emotions.

Maybe it’s the tiredness.

Maybe it’s the sudden change.

Maybe it’s the lack of privacy — the way I cannot cry without wondering who is watching.

The strangest part is that camp keeps moving, with or without you. It doesn’t pause because you’re tired. It doesn’t slow down because you’re sad. It doesn’t check in to see if you’re coping.

You can be breaking on the inside, yet the soldier will still blow the whistle at 5 a.m. Your heart can be heavy, yet the platoon instructor will still shout for parade. You can feel lost, yet the camp schedule will still drag you to the next activity.

And because everything is happening so fast, you rarely get the chance to sit with yourself. You’re constantly surrounded by people, but you are rarely truly seen.

That’s the loneliness nobody talks about.

There were also moments of joy I felt—random conversations, late-night gist in the hostel, the first Sunday in camp, serving in the kitchen, singing along to the early morning Justin Bieber playlist from the OBS studio, meeting my classmates, taking pictures of beautiful landscapes or any random things, and writing about my experience. I tried to live in the moment, to be present, to not allow how I felt determined my whole experience.

Camp taught me patience. It taught me how little control I actually have over life. In 21 days, I learnt small survival codes — how to shower fast, how to manage my time, how to create joy in chaos. And without even realizing it, i learnt emotional survival too. I learn to be patient with myself. I learnt to let small things go because there is simply no energy to hold onto them.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit, but nobody tells you how much 21 days can reshape the way you see yourself, 21 days is short, but it is enough time for you to see yourself differently: tougher than you expected, more adaptable than you imagined, more forgiving of life’s inconveniences. You don’t realize it immediately. But slowly, the rhythm creeps into your bones. It changes you quietly— in the moments you learn not to complain over what you cannot control, in the moments you breathe through discomfort rather than resist it, in the moments you find joy in small things like cold pure water or a familiar song during social night.

In all...

I am very grateful to the people I met in camp, the friends who did everything with me, the ones who kept a seat for me in the hall when I was running late, the ones who listened to me crash out, the ones I had random but beautiful conversations with, the ones who danced with me, the ones who always made me laugh and the ones who held my hand when I cried even when they had their own issues. These people who were once strangers—whose faces i didn’t know a month ago—are now my people and connections I now carry with me. And just when I was getting comfortable, it was time to leave, and I SURVIVED!

The same train that dragged me through 21 long days slowed down. We packed our bags, said goodbyes, exchanged numbers and hugged hoping one day we would meet again.

And that’s one of the things about NYSC camp

People can talk about it all day, but until you walk that sandy ground, wake up to those announcements, and stand under that sun with hundreds of strangers,

Nothing prepares you for it, you simply just have to experience it. And as I left camp, I told myself , "if I could survive this, I sure can survive anything!"

These are some of the random pictures I took while in camp…