When I was in my early twenties, I think I was confused. I
lived life with no purpose or imagination. Now that I have a different
perspective to life, I wonder where I was when life was happening!
Honestly if you ask me what I was thinking then, I’d say I wasn’t.
You can live without living. Then I wanted to read, finish my studies and enjoy
my life but the thought of “years to come” never crossed my mind. I was lost
without knowing it. And if you would have tried to explain it then I wouldn’t
have understood. Or maybe I would have? Let me leave that to your imagination.
Now I have come to a certain conclusion about this issue. If
you live in a certain place, you most likely develop the aura of that place. If
you compare the “me in Eastern Kenya” and the “me in the Western side of Kenya”,
you’d think I have a personality disorder.
I am two different people. A place has an effect on you
whether you want to admit it or not. Here I am outgoing, I have a purpose, I
know what I want, and I am happy. Out there I feel lost and out of place. No
wonder my parents hated it when I wanted to settle in the Rift Valley of Kenya.
Then I couldn’t see it but now I do.
Now don’t misunderstand me. The western side of Kenya is
okay but it would have been smarter if I stayed in the City during my days as a
student. I wanted to travel then, which is okay but apparently settling was
not. Life works differently for everyone. Maybe right now it would be okay if I
chose to settle there. But I am not saying I will or I even want to. I don’t. I
like it here …
Why did I choose to study in that area? I thought the
frequent strikes in public universities in Kenya especially in the city would
make me stay longer than necessary in school. I should have known better.
No wonder the bible says somewhere that “My people perish
for lack of knowledge”
I was ignorant then. Now I realize that you have to look at
a situation from various angles and choose wisely everything in life. But who
can blame me? I was young and stupid. Although I remember sitting in the
offices of one University in Nairobi choosing university courses and wishing
that the course would be found within the city.
After all, I was in a Private University in the City then
and I loved it there although I really hated the diploma course I was doing.
I am a science person. I don’t mind the arts too but math!
Dear heavens! I was pursuing an
accounting diploma and I didn’t like it one bit. If only there was a science
course at that university! I didn’t have much of a choice then because my dad
told me to choose between Information Technology (IT) and Accounts. Accounts looked more practical
then.
Anyway, that being established, I realized that I hated accounts
although everyone seemed to enjoy it. There was a two year gap between high
school and college. For those joining private universities, it was better
because waiting for so long was depressing. That’s why I had to read something
before I got admitted into college.
Thank God that gap is now past tense. What was it for
anyway? I think it’s just a stalling tactic for people to grow older and
hopefully wiser. I think it’s a dumb move in the then educational system. Considering
in Southern France you go through five-year campus schooling and graduate with
a degree and a masters at 23. An awesome crash program that affords you all the
time to enjoy your youth, travel, make all the senseless mistakes you want and
build a life … Kenya should emulate this.
Such an education system will mean that the country has more
literate persons with the choice of doing a PH.D or not at a young age. Then
maybe we will have more able young professors and less old people struggling to
work with damaged brains due to too much reading. This will in turn translate
to better lives in the future. While I respect old professors, it’s obvious
that the developed countries invest heavily in education and even offer
scholarships for those willing to do PH.D’S. Ask yourself why?
The education system in Kenya offers a wide variety of
courses. But the newer courses leave you in a quagmire. What should a
microbiologist do with farmers? There are no microbiology jobs in Kenya with a
job description that actually makes use of that knowledge fully. You are just
fitted with other related jobs. That’s my experience anyway.
There’s too much funding poured for surveys and research
into agriculture. If you are looking for a job that pays well in Agriculture,
apply to private organizations in the Sector. The Government salary is not a
lot but the stipend and Night out imprest is impressive especially with high
education levels and many night outs.
Yet the farmer
continues to grow poorer. Such Irony! People happy in their Agriculture jobs
are having the time of their lives. I don’t think I will settle for a boring
job. I will do it but keep looking for something to do that’s actually
interesting. It’s out there somewhere.
Anyway, time to find
me a scholarship … tired of Agriculture … It is really not my place.
