In my time, Starehe Boys' Centre was the only Kenyan school in a worldwide association of schools called Round Square that held a conference every year in different parts of the world. Three third formers were chosen to represent Starehe, and a teacher called Mr. Peter Ndung'u went with them.
In 2002 when I was a first former, my brother Paddy was one of the three third formers chosen to attend the Round Square conference held in Germany that year. When he came back, he spoke highly of Germany and the marvels he saw there.
In 2003 when I was a second former, four third formers (not three) were chosen to attend the conference, perhaps because it was held in South Africa, which is not far from Kenya. One of the third formers was a housemate of mine called James Ebenyo.
One evening a day or two after Ebenyo came back from the conference, I asked him how it was. He gave me a colorful account of the conference and then told me the next one would be held in the U.S.
I must have been delighted to hear that because when I got into third form in 2004, I hoped to be one of the three third formers chosen to attend the conference, sometimes even staring at a map of the U.S. in the school library while imagining being in the U.S.
As my third-form days wore on, I anticipated hearing from Mr. Ndung'u that I had been chosen to attend the Round Square conference. But then came one morning when things appeared not to be aligning in my favor.
That morning, I heard my deskmate Martin Wamoni mumble something about the conference to our classmate Lawrence Sikuku, which made me have a gut feeling that the three third formers attending the conference had been chosen.
I was right because later on when I asked Paddy which third formers had been chosen to attend the conference, he told me who they were, and I was not one of them. (Paddy was then in the institute division of Starehe and was part of the team of captains that chose the third formers.)
Hearing I had not been picked to attend the Round Square conference in the U.S. saddened me. But I didn't share my feelings with anyone, not even with Paddy. And that turned out to be my biggest high school disappointment.
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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Where Dreams Bloom: The Story of Starehe".
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A High School Disappointment
A True Story
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