What now; School

Most of the students will think that they have life after school all figured out which is one big illusion. You will think that after spending four or five years in campus you are now ready to conquer the outside world. After taking 56+ tough units in school, you will be thinking that you can solve half of the world problems! You will be bubbling with knowledge acquired from various professors and doctors. You will be eagerly waiting to sit for your last examination paper and proclaim that you are no longer a student.
Then the time comes and you are not a student anymore. The outside world will welcome you with open arms. Your kins will top the list in telling you that you have finally made it. You will finally be considered a grown up which is not a good thing per se. This is just a polite way of saying that you are no longer a liability.
The hardest decisions as a student are centered on very minor things: whether you should attend a class or skip it; whether you should photocopy an handout or wait to get it from your friend when he/she is done; Whether you should do an assignment or just wait to copy it in the morning. Exams and CATs are your biggest worries. These can easily be solved by studying well enough and in time. Although even one night of serious cramming just before the paper makes all the difference. For the lazy ones whom the exam finds unprepared you can opt for shortcuts like seating near strategic people who have studied or just carry a mwakenya!
Just because you are living on your own in a bedsitter or one bedroom apartment, probably in Gate C or in Kahawa, doesn’t mean you know shit. If your parents sent you money to pay that rent you should calm down like the rest of your counterparts in the hostels. Some will then move into a fancy bedsitter than what your parents can afford and start bragging about how you are paying the rest of the rent on your own. But the truth is that you will always find a way to squeeze that extra rent out of your parents pockets one way or another. The there is this other lot whose rent is paid by sponsors or working boyfriends/girlfriends. You my friends should sit down at the farthest corner when people are talking about serious life issues.
If you are voluntarily taking care of another human being in the name of love don’t talk about responsibilities. Taking her to an expensive pizza date or paying for her manicure isn’t close to responsibilities. You have not had your relatives call you because they are financially stuck and borrow money which you are sure as hell isn’t gonna find its way back to you. If your parents have not called you with a list of activities (fixing the car, buying animals feeds & fertilizer, money for chama) that require money for you to chip in, then calm down. You are still young and they are giving you time to grow up.
You would think that studying smart and graduating with your first degree at 21 from a top-ranked university they are going to give you a standing ovation. Then the reality check hits you and you join the rest of the jobless graduates. The few job opportunities you will come across will require some years experience which you don’t have. And nobody will be willing to give you a chance to build this experience. You will apply for 20 or so jobs and not even one will respond to your mail because you are desperate. You will then become humble and start looking at the voluntary section of job sites. If you are lucky you will land a unpaid internship. You will openly embrace it as light at the end of the tunnel. You will start working for a company which the only benefit you are getting is free tea and office wifi.
There are those chosen few who will start off their careers in the blue chip companies. If you fall here you are either well connected or go to bed with luck herself! But still you will start at the bottom of the food chain even if they are giving you a five figure salary.
Remember the first day you reported to campus? How you didn’t know anything about the place or how the system works and the village in you was very evident. This will be you when you finally start working. You will be at the bottom of the food chain. Your good papers will not be so important after you leave the interview room. You will be working under people with lesser qualifications. You with your degree will be taking orders from diploma holders. There will be even a mere driver who is paid more than you. The gap between you and the rest will be experience which will be measured by a number of years.
However, once you start the journey sooner or later you will also start selling on experience. It will not be an easy journey but your patience and hard work will get you there.
If you are still in campus this is the time to make the most of your life. Attend classes, do assignments, study for exams and get good grades. This good grades do not guarantee you a good job or life but at least they will not be among the reasons you miss an opportunity.

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