Your Grade is a Key, Not a Prison. If you’re sitting there today feeling a bit suffocated by your own success, I just want you to know you aren’t alone. Maybe your confusion is just your soul asking for a moment to be heard over the noise of parental pride and societal prestige. For a long time, I thought that scoring a good grade in the KCSE was the finish line. I didn't realize that for many of us, the "Power to Choose" would become a burden we weren't prepared to carry. "Engineering is the only serious choice for someone like you," they told me. My parents had the labels ready before I even saw a lecture hall. They started calling me "Engineer," but every time I heard it, I felt a piece of my true self disappear.To them, it probably looked like I was being ungrateful. They wondered how I was "confused" when I had so many open doors without observing the suffocating dilemma. I was standing in a "bed of roses," but all I could feel were the thorns of everyone else’s expectations. I was terrified that if I made the "safe" choice to keep the peace, I would wake up ten years from now in a life that didn’t belong to me. I’ll be honest with you, I didn't have a fairytale escape. Having sat through the long arguments and the heavy silence at home, I ended up following the path they envisioned, and for a long time I felt lost. I felt like I had failed because I hadn't yet found my own "calling." ​I’ve learned that it’s a difficult balance; honoring the people who raised us while trying not to lose ourselves in the process. You might choose to follow their lead or you might choose to pave your own way to a future that actually belongs to you. Both paths require courage!!

Your Grade is a Key, Not a Prison. If you’re sitting there today feeling a bit suffocated by your own success, I just want you to know you aren’t alone. Maybe your confusion is just your soul asking for a moment to be heard over the noise of parental pride and societal prestige. For a long time, I thought that scoring a good grade in the KCSE was the finish line. I didn't realize that for many of us, the "Power to Choose" would become a burden we weren't prepared to carry. "Engineering is the only serious choice for someone like you," they told me. My parents had the labels ready before I even saw a lecture hall. They started calling me "Engineer," but every time I heard it, I felt a piece of my true self disappear.To them, it probably looked like I was being ungrateful. They wondered how I was "confused" when I had so many open doors without observing the suffocating dilemma. I was standing in a "bed of roses," but all I could feel were the thorns of everyone else’s expectations. I was terrified that if I made the "safe" choice to keep the peace, I would wake up ten years from now in a life that didn’t belong to me. I’ll be honest with you, I didn't have a fairytale escape. Having sat through the long arguments and the heavy silence at home, I ended up following the path they envisioned, and for a long time I felt lost. I felt like I had failed because I hadn't yet found my own "calling." ​I’ve learned that it’s a difficult balance; honoring the people who raised us while trying not to lose ourselves in the process. You might choose to follow their lead or you might choose to pave your own way to a future that actually belongs to you. Both paths require courage!!