Finding an Occupation

Students who score an 'A' in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams are generally expected to pursue medicine, engineering or actuarial science at the university, a trend I succumbed to. Okay, let me tell you more.

When I was finishing high school in 2005, I chose actuarial science as my preferred course of study at the university. After the 2005 KCSE results were released, I didn't get the right grades to qualify for actuarial science, so someone changed my degree choice to medicine & surgery.

As I was pursuing a diploma in information technology prior to joining university, I realized that being a doctor wouldn't be the right occupation for me. I therefore selected to pursue a degree in electronic & computer engineering at a local university called JKUAT.

And alas! When I was at JKUAT, I had a hard time understanding the intricacies of electronic & computer engineering - something I have narrated before on this blog. Eventually, I dropped out of JKUAT in 2009 after three frustrating years.

While I was dropping out of JKUAT, I set my sights on venturing into politics since I admired charismatic leaders like John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. I imagined becoming as great as them.

On hearing about my ambition, a JKUAT lecturer enlightened me that I could finish my engineering course and still get into politics. He gave me an example of Raila Odinga, a prominent Kenyan politician who studied engineering. Despite the lecturer's insightful words, I dropped engineering like a piece of red-hot charcoal.

That I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to do with my life was also apparent in the application materials I sent to several top American colleges during three application rounds: in the years 2006, 2007 and 2009 - that is before I matriculated at JKUAT, while I was there and after I dropped out of the university.

When I was applying to the American colleges in 2006, I mentioned in my applications that I wanted to pursue computer science. I also said I aspired to be president of my country some day. As it happened, the colleges didn't think I was up to par, so they rejected me.

Then when I was applying to the American colleges for the second time in 2007, I said in my applications that I intended to study physics. I contemplated studying physics because I aspired to attain a greatness similar to that of physicist Albert Einstein. Again, the colleges didn't accept me.

You know what? Though I aspired to study physics in a top American college, I found it difficult to understand concepts in physics such as time dilation and Einstein's theory of special relativity. At one time, I waded through a book on particle physics, but it was all Greek to me.

Due to that difficulty in understanding physics, I changed my mind on the course I wanted to pursue when I re-applied to three top American colleges in 2009. This time round, I wrote in my applications that I wanted to pursue history or political science or international relations (I can't recall the exact course I intended to study). Unfortunately, the American colleges rejected me again.

Undeterred, I followed my dream of getting into politics. First, I enrolled at the University of Nairobi in September 2010 to pursue a degree in political science, history, economics & public administration, a course I was unable to finish due to financial constraints. Then in 2013, I ran for a political seat in Kenya's general elections.

Running for the political seat didn't turn out to be as easy as I had thought, especially raising money for campaigns and going out to talk to people. Well, I tried to psyche myself up by opening a Facebook group and updating my friends on how my campaign was progressing, but those efforts didn't help.

Although it may appear to a casual observer that I was a lost soul when I was choosing the courses to study at the university, all along, I had a passion for sharing my thoughts in writing and in music. It's a passion I have clung to. Today, I thought to myself, "Aha! Why not make music and writing my full-time occupation?"

Actually, that's the occupation I will work toward. I will therefore continue honing my talents in music and writing while praying for breakthroughs so that I may become the self-reliant man I desire to be. That's all I am saying.

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