November 26th, 2015

I remember the day I enrolled in high school, I was nervous. Almost all my family members came to see me before I went off. I had done them all proud, being accepted to one of the most prestigious high schools in Kenya. On that day I could eat anything I wanted at the family restaurant, free of charge. I got various amounts of money from different people, all well-wishers, to go into my pockets. I had more than what I needed- no complaints there. At about 2 o’clock, we drove into the school compound. It was beautiful, even more beautiful than the last time I’d been there (I attended my auntie’s wedding which was held there when I was around 10 and went home with a new bike- long story). The lawns were well manicured and there were like 2 roundabouts in there, the school is well placed on vast acres of land. We were directed to the cashier’s office first where we presented a cheque for the fees then with the evidence that we had indeed paid school fees we were directed to Tausi dormitory where we were shown to my would-be matron for the next four years (she ended up being best friends with mum). She checked that I had everything in order, told us about school life and informed us that I could roam about the compound if I wanted to but to be there at 4 so that my assigned school mother could take me to my dormitory and help me out in EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING I NEEDED. Now the school mother is a student, as a matter of fact each student gets to be school mother in form 2 where you mother a form 1 and help them adjust to school life. My school mother was awesome, and I like to think I made an awesome school mother too ;-). Anyway, that day was even more memorable because of what happened after we got to the school. I was a nervous wreck and I wasn’t quite looking forward to when mum and dad and grandma would leave me there all alone. However, as soon as we were at the Tausi dormitory, one tall brown girl walked up to me and called me by my name. I recognized her immediately. She was Maggie, a girl who had transferred to the primary school I was attending when I was in class four, I think. I remember coz she was the other brown girl besides me, only difference being I was short, she was tall, and older. I was so excited when I saw her, even though we hadn’t quite known each other well in primary. I was just glad that there was someone I knew there. I called out to my company and introduced her to them. She told us she had been specifically waiting for us to arrive, that she had been since she saw my name on the list of the accepted form ones that year. I asked her why her sweater was red and she told me that she was a junior prefect and junior prefects wear red sweaters while senior prefects wear green sweaters. She was the one who showed us to everywhere we needed to be and when mum and company left, she assured them she would take good care of me. She gave me some snacks that she had bought for me, made me feel comfortable, and when she couldn’t leave her post she left me in the care of some friends. At 4 o’clock she helped me find my school mother who then took me to my dorm and showed me around and at supper in the hall she (Maggie) came to see that everything had gone okay. She told me that her dorm was Chania-Yala and that if I needed her, she’d be there stat. She checked on me whenever she could and to say the truth I probably wouldn’t have felt comfortable there if it weren’t for her, well her and Caren my school mother and my matron Mrs. Mwaura. But why write this now? Well, Maggie has been a very busy girl since finishing high school. She is currently a student at JKUAT and also a model. She has participated in several pageants including DEAR, was 1st runner up for Miss Kenya and is currently in Poland taking part in Miss Supranational 2015. She is selfless and loves helping people, as you can tell by the many projects she has undertaken as miss Kenya-Kajiado County and as 1st runner up for Miss Kenya and more. She has always been selfless, as far as I can remember, which is all the way back in primary school. I didn’t know she’d end up modelling though, I’ve always thought models were shallow, because well, most are, but through her I’ve come to learn that models aren’t always shallow. That modelling isn’t just about being pretty and walking the catwalk, it’s more than that. It’s about being a MODEL to the society. Maggie and I haven’t talked since high school but I felt compelled to write this and wish her all the best- I really hope she wins Miss Supranational (she’s got me binge-watching previous miss supranational competitions to see who won and what was the determining factor). I think she deserves to win it. So here’s to you, Margaret Muchemi, best of luck in all your undertakings!