THE DAY I LEARNED TO GET PROPER INFORMATION

It was the last day of a one-week youth programme at my church, and I had been looking forward to attending it. After what felt like endless begging and tireless convincing, my parents finally gave me permission to go. I was so excited because I had really wanted to attend the programme, and getting permission from my parents was already an achievement on its own.

I left the house at around 2:00 p.m., thinking the programme was scheduled to start at exactly 2:00 p.m. I was probably imagining that by the time I got there, the church would already be filled with young people, activities would be going on, and everything would be lively.

Unfortunately, reality had a completely different plan for me.

As soon as I arrived at the church, I noticed something was wrong. Everywhere was strangely empty. There were no young people, no programme activities, and no sign that a youth programme was about to begin. The only people around were those who had come to the church on their own to pray.

At first, I was confused. I thought maybe I had arrived at the wrong place or perhaps something had happened. I decided to ask someone when the programme was supposed to start. I approached a young man and asked him.

His answer almost finished me.

He told me that the programme was supposed to start at 6:00 p.m., immediately after evening Mass.

In my head, I was like, “Wait... what's going on? From where? Who changed the time?”

I couldn't understand how I had confidently left home at 2:00 p.m. thinking I was going for a 2:00 p.m. programme when the actual programme was apparently starting at 6:00 p.m.

I immediately called my sister, who was in school but was also on the youth platform. I asked her about the time, hoping she would clear up the confusion. Instead, she told me that she had information that the programme was starting by 5:00 p.m.

At this point, I was completely confused.

Was it 2:00 p.m.?

5:00 p.m.?

6:00 p.m.?

Nobody seemed to have the same information!

Since I had already travelled all the way there, I decided to stay and wait. I thought that perhaps I could simply remain at the church until after Mass, and surely the programme would eventually begin.

So I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But there was one major problem: I was hungry.

Before leaving home, my dad had actually told me to eat something, but because of my excitement, I refused. I kept thinking, “When I get back, I'll eat.” Little did I know that those words were about to become one of my biggest regrets of the day.

As the hours passed, the hunger became worse. My body was tired, and I was beginning to feel completely drained. I was also becoming discouraged because there was still barely any sign of a youth programme.

At around 5:45 p.m., I looked around the church and still couldn't see any serious preparation. There were no crowds of young people arriving, no obvious activities, and nothing that made it look like a programme was about to begin.

I honestly felt like crying.

Earlier, when I found out that the programme was actually meant to start later, I had called my dad to explain what was happening. He asked me the question I probably should have asked myself before leaving home:

“Why didn't you get proper information before going?”

Honestly, I had no good answer.

He then told me that if I could endure, I should stay and attend the programme, but if I couldn't, I should simply come back home.

I really wanted to stay. I had begged so much for permission, and I didn't want all that effort to be wasted. But by 5:55 p.m., I was still looking around and seeing no real preparation for the programme.

At that point, I finally gave up.

I decided to go back home.

As disappointing as the experience was, it taught me an important lesson: always get the correct information before making plans. Sometimes we are so excited about something that we rush into it without confirming the important details.

I also learned another lesson that day: listen when your parents tell you to eat before leaving home!

I had been excited to attend a youth programme, but instead, I ended up spending hours at an almost empty church, confused about the time, tired, hungry, and eventually heading back home.

It was definitely not the experience I expected, but it is one I will probably laugh about for a very long time.

And honestly, the next time I hear about a programme, I am asking for the exact time, exact date, exact location, and probably evidence too.