Eating My Way to Success

I've always had a weakness for food, perhaps as a result of the competitions my brothers engaged me in to see who would wolf down the most chapattis, my favorite delicacy that we cooked once every week. That was way back in 1993 when I was five.

Not surprisingly, I became a "combiner" when I joined Starehe Boys' Centre in 2002. ("Combiners" were those students who ate extra food on the table.) And I'd have kept "combining" had some housemates not made remarks about my eating.

Leon Osumba, who introduced me to the Starehe way of life when I joined the school in January 2002, was the first one to point out my poor eating habits when he said to the housemates on our table one day, "This Thuita doesn't chew his food!"

Then Emmanuel Karanja, a bright housemate, told me something along these lines, "Thuita, resist the urge to 'combine'. Brilliant guys don't do that. Look at a person like George Waithaka - do you ever see him 'combining' like you do?"

George Waithaka was another bright housemate who emerged the fourth best student in '04 KCSE exams. His brilliance was certainly one of the reasons he was awarded a scholarship to pursue a post high-school-diploma at Aiglon College in Switzerland, from where he gained admission to the prestigious MIT.

Perhaps challenged by Karanja's words, I stopped "combining". And that didn't affect my health. In fact, I grew healthier because I can't remember having coughs in my senior years at Starehe like I did in my junior years.

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RECOMMENDATION: If you've enjoyed this story, you might also enjoy "Avoiding Idleness".