How do people dress so well yet claim to be broke? Campus pressure is wild. I remember being a first year on campus and wondering the exact same thing. Like — how are people wearing designer jackets, fresh sneakers, perfect hairstyles, and carrying iPhones… yet still saying “niko broke” every other day? It messed with my head. I felt like I didn’t fit in. I was out here repeating outfits from high school, trying to stretch my HELB money, while people around me looked like they had stepped out of a fashion ad. Campus pressure? It’s real. In my first semester, I let it get to me. I started skipping meals just to buy clothes at Gikosh and thrift markets, thinking maybe I’d feel more “belonging” if I dressed like the rest. I borrowed from friends, overused my M-PESA till limit, and at some point I even faked stories back home just to get extra pocket money. But here’s what I’ve learned since then — and why I no longer feel that pressure:

How do people dress so well yet claim to be broke? Campus pressure is wild. I remember being a first year on campus and wondering the exact same thing. Like — how are people wearing designer jackets, fresh sneakers, perfect hairstyles, and carrying iPhones… yet still saying “niko broke” every other day? It messed with my head. I felt like I didn’t fit in. I was out here repeating outfits from high school, trying to stretch my HELB money, while people around me looked like they had stepped out of a fashion ad. Campus pressure? It’s real. In my first semester, I let it get to me. I started skipping meals just to buy clothes at Gikosh and thrift markets, thinking maybe I’d feel more “belonging” if I dressed like the rest. I borrowed from friends, overused my M-PESA till limit, and at some point I even faked stories back home just to get extra pocket money. But here’s what I’ve learned since then — and why I no longer feel that pressure: