By: Patrick Ngugi
Our newsletter is coming out this week and it was full to overflowing. This article was written about Imani's experience of going away to high school. In Kenya, high schools are boarding schools. This is a huge change for the teens. First time away from home. Depending on where in the city you live, totally different expectations, living conditions, etc.
Our newsletter is focusing on the education system in Kenya and our CSL Kenya scholarship program. I will post it here, or maybe you receiving it in your email. Read on about Imani's experience.
IMANI’S EXPERIENCE IN THE NEW SCHOOL
A return to school life was the last thing on Imani Gitau’s mind when January 2024 came knocking. Following her KCPE exams the previous November, she spent time relaxing and ‘’chilling at home, being lazy and just having a nice holiday,’’ she said.
“But when January hit’’, it was a wake-up call for her that the holiday was over.
At first she could not understand the fuss going on around her with ‘’everyone was like let's get stuff for school, let's go shopping, I thought this is too fast, and I didn’t want it to be too fast,’’ she said.
What gave her anxiety was not only that time to go to a new school and new class had come too soon, but also the fact that she was going to a new place where she did not know anybody.
Luckily for her, she did not require to pack or carry a lot of stuff to the new school, unlike the requirements in many other schools where new students are required to go with a lot of stuff which includes uniforms, mattresses blankets, and even gardening implements.
Imani was only required to take personal stuff such as body lotions and extra clothing.
Uniforms and mattresses were provided. “I only carried a bucket, a duster and a broom. Quite a lot but not too much,” she said.
Her first impression of the school when she arrived was ‘’Wow!’’, she added that the school was “so clean, nice and beautiful. But I thought the uniform was like ‘gosh’. Not pleasing to the eye.’’
She was escorted to school by her mom, her aunt and brother, who then left after the admission process was complete.
How did it feel when they were leaving her?
She was a bit worried, and thought, “Oh now I am alone - I have to know how to do things by myself and know how to live with other people.’’
So after settling and relaxing, she says she didn’t find it challenging, since she realized that though it was a new place for her, she knew she had to learn to live with it.
“I gradually began to make new friends, then asked them to show me around and show me how things are done in the school. That is how I got used to everything. I got used to it quite fast,’’ she said.
In a nutshell, I sought to know, how the first term in a new school was like. She responded:
“Looking back - the first term was nice apart from a few people who I had to live with who were - to put it lightly - overly dramatic. Unnecessary drama and time wastage for everybody.”
Q: How did you manage to handle this?
A: By making them realize that their action also affected us, not just them.
Q: How did you do this?
A: I tried speaking to them but they weren't responsive so I had to use other means and they listened eventually.
Q: Are you friends now?
A: Not really.. We just learn to live with each other.
Well, Imani does not tell us what ‘’other means’’ she used, but apparently it worked like magic.
We wish her all the best in the coming term.
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