By MakOmondi
“When I grow up I want to be a pilot”. Probably that was the first statement I ever made that had to do with careers and aspirations. If my memory serves me right, this day back in 1995, dad had gathered all of us and asked us what we wanted to be in life. Everyone was grown, only my brother and I wouldn’t know what we were saying and to prove this he said he wanted to be a shopkeeper. I look at him today and wonder whether he still would want to be a shopkeeper with his studies in Actuarial Science. I kept growing and all the while I told everyone how much I would grow to be a pilot. One book I read while a class three student “Anna the Air Hostess by Cynthia E. Hunter” made the urge even stronger. I feel nostalgic as I remember the book.
“When I grow up I want to be an Aeronautical Engineer”. This was in class six, it was a Sunday I remember so well, the reader I am had just gone through the lifestyle pages of the Sunday Nation and there I was, I had discovered something new. There was this story about a lady whose unique career I developed interest in. In addition to the flying I always wished I could do, I realized there was a career that would let me understand the aeroplanes even much better and with it would come the title “Eng.” Just before my name. Who wouldn’t want to be an engineer after all the stories we heard of engineers making it big?
“When I grow up I want to attend Mang’u High school” I had my way well planned out and I knew which avenues would get me to being the Aeronautical Engineer I wanted to be. This was a year later, in boarding school and thinking I only had a year before I get to high school. This morning my classmates and I were talking of what schools would work best for the dreams we had for the future. I walked towards Mang’u for a year before my dad came when we were doing school selection and convinced me Starehe Boys Centre would work best for me. I ended up going to neither of the two, refused to attend the school I was invited to attend and ended up at St. Mary’s School Yala.
“When I grow up I want to study at the University of Leeds”. My dream of becoming an Aeronautical Engineer never died when I went to Yala and through the four years I kept it alive. I worked hard and insisted on pursuing Physics despite it being a bit too tough on me. Don’t get me wrong, I passed, I managed a B+ in Physics and this saw me get admission to Leeds and hence started a rat race, trying to find scholarships if I was to ever get a visa to the UK. Came August 2007 and my dream was crushed, I couldn’t raise enough for my study at Leeds, out the window went the Aeronautical Engineer and I fixed my hopes to what the Joint Admission Board back home would see best for me. I always thought they would offer me an Engineering course, then the letter came and it read:
“We are pleased to offer you admission for a B.Sc. in Communication and Public Relations, at Moi University”
I never got to pursue engineering, and worse still I went to the last university I ever wanted to attend.
“When I grow up I want to be the Public Relations Manager at “Blue Chip”. It rang in my head through and through the four years I was in Eldoret. I had finally fallen in love with Public Relations and for some reason I thanked God that I had not gone through with the engineering dream. Here I was finally done with undergraduate studies and got employment in a firm. One of those whose name you mention and you have to explain everything about it. You realize that it is only known to you, your colleagues and your suppliers, not even your clients remember your name after you are done with your projects.
“When I grow up I want to remember the lesson that lies in life”. This is me today, and I know in life lies a lot of lessons, from the good and the bad, from the successful plans to the failed expectations, there always lies a lesson that makes you strong and better. I never will be a pilot but I learnt there could be an Aeronautical Engineer out of my passion for planes. I never went to Mang’u as I had wanted but Yala made me the man I am today, I grew from a soft boy into a hardened young man as a result of the experiences I had there. I never made it to Leeds but you wouldn’t imagine how much I fell in love with Public Relations, Eldoret was an amazing place, today I sit and wish someone gave me four more years down there. I haven’t gotten the job at a blue chip company yet, but I know the small firm is moulding in me an experienced future PR guru.
When I grow up I know I will be a better person, I know that my destiny is not pegged to a situation or an occurrence. I am sure that despite all disappointments and failed expectations that I meet along the way there is always a way of making it work. Life is a race, on whose track there are hurdles, some we go over easily, some trip us and we fall. When we take the fall positively and get back to the track them tomorrow is bound to be a better day and I will have more strong and seasoned people enjoying life with me, when I grow up.
About the Author: MakOmondi is the guy you need for your next voice over. Public Relations is his passion. He is a blogger and you can find his life experiences and the lessons that lie therein in his blog Insight.
The Greatrnk 