A JOURNEY OF GRACE, REFLECTING ON MY SCHOOL DAYS.
Five years ago, on a beautiful December morning, I woke up with a heart full of excitement, the thrill of graduation day running through my veins. It was Friday December 8th, 2017, and the end of my years of hard work and dedication was about to be celebrated at the Kigali Independent University (ULK).
As a class representative, my phone kept ringing with calls from classmates asking for last-minute help and reassurance. The atmosphere was electric, a mix of excitement and nervousness. We were about to finish a long and difficult race, and the feeling of success was amazing.
Very carefully, I checked my clothes, making sure every wrinkle was ironed out and every shoe was shiny. I felt the importance of the upcoming ceremony, but it was a feeling mixed with pride and anticipation.
The night before graduation, I felt a wave of nostalgia. I was taken back to my first day of school in 2001, a day that was also full of excitement and anticipation. The years between had been a whirlwind of learning, challenges, and personal growth, and now, I was about to start a new chapter.
Let me share with you one my greatest memories of Primary School days.
Primary School days.
I started school in September 2001, in my village. Back then, you could only start school when you were 7 years old. So I had always looked forward to that day.I remember buying a school uniform, and on the first day, I woke up early to check where my small 32-page Musana book (that had been cut in two) and the pencil I had helped sharpen were. I was ready for school.
We stood in lines, and each of the 3 P1 teachers read out their students’ names. Mine was read by Teacher Gahima, and I followed him into our classroom, which was under a big tree. We had small stones to sit on and a big portable blackboard.
We didn’t know anything about school at that time, but Teacher Gahima did a great job teaching us the basics. We learned how to be quiet during class, how to ask questions by raising our hands, and other manners.
Those early days of school were amazing. I didn’t have any big dreams back then. I just went to school because that’s what everyone else was doing, and it was fun. We sang songs, we danced, we fought, we laughed, and we did all the things that kids of that age do.
Since we were studying under a tree, whenever we sang “Mbe kanyamanza keza,” we would look around to see if there was an “akanyamanza.”
My greatest memory of the entire 6 years of primary school was the last day of term 3 in P1. Actually, it wasn’t really Primary one; it was more like Baby Class or Middle Class. We called it “IKINYONI.” Once you completed that, you would be promoted to “Uwambere Muto wa Peace” (that was the name of the teacher of that class), then you would go to “Uwambere Mukuru” before being promoted to P2.
I remember that day vividly. I was putting on my Rugabire and sitting in the lines at the school compound. We were all listening to the speeches of the school leaders at the end of the term. After the speeches, our class teachers read out the names of the top 10 pupils in each class.
I was sitting in those lines waiting because we had been competing to be No1 in our classes. I had been No2 in the first term, losing to a friend we called “Boy” (his real name was Nkuranga Wilson).
In the second term, they changed my class, and I joined another class in which a girl named Jackline had topped in the first term. We competed for the first position, but she still beat me, and I was No. 2 again in the second term.
I remember promising everyone that I would be No1 in the third term. I realized that I wasn’t doing well in the sports and handwork exams. We used to do sprint races, and I knew I wasn’t as fast as a friend named Mujuni William, who would always beat us in those races.
But I knew I could do something new in handwork. So I made a matchbox and managed to top my class in handwork marks.
As we sat in those lines, waiting to hear the names of the top students in each class, our Teacher Gahima came to the front and started to explain how the class had done overall. He mentioned that this time, he had combined his classes.
Everyone was curious who would come first between Jackline and Nkuranga. The people sitting next to me said, “You’re going to be Number 3.”
All of a sudden, he called out the first name, and it was me! I remember fastening my Rugabire and hearing him say, “Vital is too smart; he can even read the Bible.” In fact, the top five of my class would go straight to Primary 2 because they were qualified. I literally jumped two classes. I felt amazing. It was a great day that I will never forget.
I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my classmates who shared this journey with me. If you are reading this and we went to the same primary school, MATIMBA PRIMARY SCHOOL, thanks for giving me the best days.
I am particularly grateful to my teacher, Gahima, for his unwavering dedication and passion for teaching. Most importantly, I am deeply grateful to God for His blessings and the countless opportunities He has presented me with. His presence in my life has been a constant source of strength and inspiration.
I will save High School stories for another day, besides, some i have started sharing, check out one of them here:My High School Story
University Graduation day
That night of my graduation I remembered different memories of my school days, including the day I was number last in Senior 5. So I was like am finally graduating from university and that is awesome.
A few weeks prior I had submitted my thesis and defended it. Had got 17/20 and broke a record that had been set many years back, no body had got 17 in more than 10 years.
On graduation day, they called the top students in each of the schools. We had a school of social sciences, a school of law, a school of Economics and Business Studies among among others.
Again I was surprised to hear my name when they called me the top of the School of Social Sciences. I matched forward to shake hands with the vice chancellor Dr. SEKIBIBI Ezeckiel with pride, humility, and a grateful heart.
Grateful to God because education for me had never been an easy journey for me. Many childhood friends can relate, so many times we were chased out of school for the lack of school fees, In senior 3 I completely lost hope for continuing my studies until God showed up through a scholarship from Cornerstone Leadership Academy.
Many of my neighbors whose families were even more well off than my family, and some of these fellows were brighter than I, but still, they didn’t have the chance to continue school.
I am truly grateful to God for that milestone five years ago; he has done many wonderful things for me over the last 29 years of my life. Today was a special thanks to Him for that day, 5 years ago.
Thanks also to all my classmates, Francine GAHIZI Diane KIRABO Benoit Mugisha, Jeanne GATERA, Willy Akami and many others! I miss the milk and bread in the ULK cafeteria and our endless debates about everything.
My graduation Video: I received the award of being the best student in the school of social science and was recognized for my excellent debating skills.
SOME PHOTOS OF MY UNIVERSITY DAYS (To see more photos of mine click here and follow my Twitter account here
