When you start the journey of reading, something funny and sometimes painful, begins to happen. People around you suddenly turn into professional comedians. Some will call you “Prof,” others will say “Scholar,” “Malam Google,” “Bookworm,” “Dictionary,” “Oga Wisdom,” “Big Grammar,” and so on.

These names aren’t always compliments. Many times, they’re small, disguised attempts to discourage you especially when they come from friends who haven’t opened a book since secondary school.

At first, the teasing feels light. You laugh. They laugh. It sounds harmless. But as you keep reading and they keep watching, the jokes become sharper. They start saying, “Abeg leave book before it burns your head,” or “No be everything person dey read,” or “This your reading sef, na exam you dey write?” And then the classic one: “Shebi you go soon turn philosopher?”

What they don’t realize is that your reading habit is not about showing off. It’s about upgrading your life. But because they don’t understand, they mock what they fear, belittle what they don’t practice and ridicule what they secretly wish they had the discipline to do.

Here’s the truth, people rarely attack what you do, they attack what they refuse to do.

Mockery is a defense mechanism. When someone sees you reading, growing, learning and improving, while they remain in the same place, they feel uncomfortable. Instead of admitting it, they tease you to pull you back to their level. It’s easier to laugh at a reader than to become one.

But you must not stop.

Because the same people calling you “Prof” today will one day bring a form for you to help them fill. They will bring proposals for you to review. They will ask for your opinion when life becomes confusing. They will bring their children to you for advice. They will treat you like the library they refused to visit.

Reading has a quiet way of proving people wrong.

The truth is, growth is uncomfortable to those who choose comfort. And reading is one of the purest forms of growth. It stretches your mind. It deepens your thinking. It gives you new language, new ideas, new confidence and new possibilities. Most importantly, it separates you from the crowd without you trying.

So when they call you names, don’t get angry. Smile. Keep reading. Their mockery is free noise, your growth is silent power.

Remember! Nobody mocks a fool for reading because fools don’t read. Nobody mocks a stagnant person for improving because there’s nothing to improve. Nobody mocks a threat unless they fear what that threat will become.

So carry your book like a shield. Read like your future depends on it because it does. Let them talk, let them laugh and let them misunderstand.

A day is coming when they will look at you and say, “With all our teasing, this person still passed us.”

And you will smile not because you proved them wrong, but because you proved yourself right.

Keep reading. Ignore the noise. Your future self is already thanking you.