When I go to campus…

BY MERCY TRECY NG'ANG'A

I remember these were the exact words I started my talk with. I was addressing my mother and it was only a week before my secondary school results could be out. It is during such times that most of those who sat for the exams are filled with tension. Ours was no different. I knew from the condition we lived in that this was my only ticket to a University education.

The week passed fast enough and the long awaited day came to pass… I got a call from my secondary school principal. Her exact words were…”Your dream has come to pass. You have the points needed for campus. Congratulations dear!” Everyone in school had known me as a dreamer. But I had made it to the dream!

“Mummy, I will follow all my principles. I will be top in my class all the time just like High School days. I will be a good girl, I promise!” Everyone in the family now saw me as a heroin and my name didn’t leave people’s mouths when telling my siblings and cousins how to behave. I had set an example yet I was the lastborn in my family. I was the pride of my family including the extended.

I was bought many things such as new clothes, shoes and a suitcase. My family is a religious one so the clothes were mostly long baggy skirts. I didn’t have a problem at all with them since they were what I was used to… This was even before my admission letter to any university had come. My mother argued out that the fact remained that I was going to campus!

My admission letter came about four months later. I had been admitted to Moi University, Main campus to take the course of my dreams…The DREAMER!...

“…When I go to campus…” I told my mother.

Coming to campus is my best accomplishment so far in my life! Having dreamt for so long to do so. My mother has been the greatest encouragement to achieving this. Her constant reminders were on the situation of the family . She believes am the only ticket to bettering everyone’s life. Her regular phone calls ensure that I don’t forget that!

When I joined campus, my whole family came along with me to see the place where none has been to. My mother ensured this by holding a ‘CHAI’ where everyone in the village was invited to make a contribution to raise the money to bring me to my DREAM. They made sure I had settled in since they believe that since they had used what they saw as a ‘fortune’ on my fees, I should get the best of what that money was worth.

Before they left, I was handed a Bible. I was told to read at least a verse every evening and morning as a guidance on my activities. I smiled at my mother, nodded and mouthed a thank you. She embraced me lovingly, her eyes full of pride.

I decided to take a stroll with a friend I had made while queuing for the registrations. She was the one who spotted an Arab-somali boy as I came to know him. I had never seen someone with such complexion. It made him so noticeable and girls turned their heads wherever he passed. He was walking towards us. I pretended not to notice him but…

“Hi ladies”. What? Did he just address us? We stood rooted to the ground. No words seemed to form in either of us. I was the first to come out of our ‘coma’. I simply nodded my head. He decided to accompany us for our ‘tour’. We later exchanged contacts and room numbers. I later came to realize that room numbers are some sort of identity and mean more than what the dorms used to mean in High School.

Let that be a story for another day when I finish analyzing what they truly mean. Hoping you will be patient enough with me until then.

Campus is where I sent to hell most of my principles. With each passing day, I find that I am becoming more flexible in my dealings and the general way I view life. As I sit writing this, I remember my statement that I had used with my mother; When I go to campus…

…Will this remain just a statement or will I be brave enough to take my mind back to that very time I used it meaningfully? Am left wondering…