When I was in nursery school in 1993, our teacher wrote numbers 1 to 100 on the board, and then asked us to copy them in our exercise books. I really struggled to do that; I don't even think I made it past number 10 because I didn't have writing experience then.
As I wrote more and more with the passing of years, I built writing stamina. By the time I was starting my KCSE exams in October 2005, I could handle the Paper 1 and Paper 2 format of the exams. I even scored 'A's in all the subjects I sat for, apart from English and Geography, which I scored 'A-'s.
That makes me believe success is all about building stamina. We just need to practice what we want to succeed at till it becomes second nature to us. Samuel Johnson said it best: "What we hope ever to do with ease, we must first learn to do with diligence."
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Also check out "A Congressman's 6 Tips for Grads".
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Building Stamina, Achieving Success
A True Story
Copyright ©
A Look Back at My Time at JKUAT
A True Story
on Nov 1, 2026
Copyright ©
When I enrolled at JKUAT in May 2007 to pursue a degree in electronic & computer engineering, I was assigned to stay in Hall 6. I ended up staying in Hall 6 throughout my JKUAT years.
My first roommate was a suave and peaceable alumnus of Alliance High School named Mikhail Mbelase. And my last roommate was a humble fellow from Western Kenya named Zachariah Mokua.
JKUAT, I now realize, was an excellent university in my time. It had good learning facilities, brilliant students, and delectable food. It also had a rural ambience that made me feel at one with nature.
For some reasons though, I wanted to study in a more prestigious university in America. So in my first year, I applied to MIT, Yale, Harvard, and Stanford. Luckily, the subjects I was studying at JKUAT helped me ace SAT 2.
And the JKUAT academic calendar dovetailed nicely with the application time frame of the American colleges. I took my SAT exams on Saturdays and mailed my applications when we broke for long holidays in December 2007.
Had any of the colleges accepted me, I would simply not have reported back to JKUAT in May 2008 for my second year. As it happened, I went back to JKUAT. Not long afterwards, I became sick and was admitted to JKUAT Hospital.
One-storey and spacious, JKUAT Hospital was lovely and clean. The nurses there took good care of me, and the kitchen staff fed me so well that I later on wished I could get sick and be readmitted to the hospital.
Eventually, I dropped out of JKUAT in 2009. Though I didn't finish my engineering degree, I formed some lasting friendships at the university and got to experience what campus life is like. God bless JKUAT!
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Also check out "The Day JKUAT Became a War Zone".
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