MUM DID IT FOR ME: Her unwavering support saw me through high school
Each one of us had some big high school experience. It could have been good or bad. I know that for many high school boarders, the experiences are largely bad.
High school is a time in a student’s life when they have four years of freedom away from their parents. I did a lot of bad things in high school, with the mentality that I would never get caught and my parents would never find out.
Born and raised in Seychelles, I was used to the warm climate. Seychelles is an island of islands. Over there, it is humid everywhere and I got accustomed to it. So when I had to come to Nairobi for my high school education, it was hard to adapt to the cold weather.
I went to Nembu Girls High School in Dagoretti. It was usually warm but sometimes extremely cold. When there, there was a time I didn’t want to go to school. I refused because the environment made me sick. It was hard dealing with that cold.
My mom took her time to come and check on me three times a week. She had a job, so I guess she had to ask for permission to travel all the way just to make sure I was OK.
Strikes are common in high school. There’s always something the students want to complain about and, when they don’t get what they want they turn to violence. I am not a pro-violence type of person. I always avoid it whenever possible. We had one such strike. A bad one sort of.
EXPELLED
After the strike, I was suspended with a few other girls. I didn’t do it. For me, it was just a case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The teachers decided to treat me as one of the culprits and thus I got suspended. Most moms wouldn’t believe I didn’t do it because they believed that a teacher is the most just person in a school. Lucky for me, my mom believed me. She stood by me the whole time until the truth was discovered and I was proven innocent.
This was not the only case of me being mistaken in high school. It happened again and this time, I was caught with bhang (marijuana). My friend had handed me a bag and told me to keep it for her for a few days. I never thought about it, we were those kinds of friends who would do anything without questions. So I decided to keep the bag in my box and eventually I forgot about them.
A few weeks later there was a random search with a rumor that some students were selling drugs to other students. That was when I realized that I might be one of those students and remembered the bag I had been given to keep. As you can guess I was caught and I wasn’t given time or the space to explain myself. I was expelled.
Most moms at this point wouldn’t want anything to do with their daughters. Even you probably wouldn’t, I mean, teachers can’t really make the same mistake twice, can they?
Rather than be disappointed in me, my mother didn’t judge me nor make me feel worthless. Instead she was firm in making sure I knew what my mistake was-unquestioning loyalty. She guided me from then on, never allowing me to be misled again. There are many things I can forget, but this is not one of them.”
Caroline Kagose writes for Content Production Media. Content Production Media is a Nairobi based Media Company that creates elegant content for print, online platforms, film and television.
Twitter: @CPMBelieve1
