High School Chronicles

I remember hearing one classmate say something about a Swahili novel we read in Form 1. From the way he was talking excitedly about it, he seemed to find it interesting, unlike me who wasn't understanding anything in the novel.

That's why I found it hard to beat most of my classmates that year, even after cheating during a biology test by referring to notes I had scribbled on a paper I hid in the textbook (an atlas, I think) on which I placed my answer sheet.

But bright as my classmates were, I felt our class had only one true genius. And that was George Yuka.

The guy grasped difficult concepts with ease. And I will never forget the class baraza we had in Form 2 when he stood in front and started describing each of us, from class no. 1 to class no. 35.

As he went through his list, I feared he would tell my classmates I was always confused as people in Starehe said. Happily, he told them something positive about me. That was very wise of him.

When we got into Form 4 in 2005, I began appearing among the top six in my class. I don't know why that happened because I didn't rise before 6:00 a.m. or engage in any cheating that year.

During our last term that year, I interacted with some classmates in a room where I enjoyed playing chess with Yuka, but I couldn't beat him however much I tried to up my game. The guy was just bright, and funny too!

One Sunday afternoon for instance, he shared a joke about a man who sold groundnuts near the gates of our school. I found the joke so hilarious that it had me rolling in the aisles. Some men are atlases; Yuka was the map.

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Also check out "Classmates' Shenanigans".