Self Confession: How I Survived Depression While Navigating the Harsh Realities of Life

As I sit down and reflect on my adolescent years in school, I remember a time when my career path was being shaped more by personal feelings than by my strengths and purpose. During those days, I was a brilliant student who excelled in most subjects. However, sciences were my best subjects, while languages and agriculture were my worst. It was in Form Four when things changed drastically. I lost the energy and interest I once had, resulting in a drop in my performance. Nevertheless, I managed to secure the minimum university entry points, though I did not meet the requirements to study medicine, my favorite profession. Teaching, on the other hand, was a career I did not want to pursue. I could not bear the hard experiences my teachers had while dealing with students. Despite my parents’ efforts to persuade me, I enrolled in Information Sciences and Knowledge Management because it was not a teaching career, and I met the qualifications perfectly.

Surprisingly, I began to admire my field of study after confessing that I would give anything to succeed. I could write and present my articles in class and receive approval from my lecturer as well as my fellow students. My attachment training at the Kenya News Agency deepened my interest in writing.

When I posted my graduation pictures immediately after the ceremony, my secondary school Chemistry and Physics teacher was the first to call. He congratulated me and informed me of an opportunity to join him at his school. “Physics and Chemistry teacher is needed,” he said. “I know you can do a good job,” he continued.

Unfortunately, I was not a trained teacher. He was surprised to learn that I had completed a course unrelated to the sciences. The chance slipped away, and it was the perfect time for my parents to blame me for ignoring their advice.

Where should I start from? Many thoughts ran through my head. After a short period of this disturbing experience, I realized there was a high consumption of chicken and a low supply in my home area. I noticed this after seeing a bunch of chickens being transported from the neighboring county to my county in the matatu I was using to go home after graduation. This sparked the idea of practicing poultry farming. With the small piece of land my parents gave me, I set up a simple structure to accommodate the chickens and planted a few stems of sukuma wiki to feed them. Luckily, many people asked if I could sell a few leaves to them for human consumption. At that point, I realized vegetable farming could be a new venture. I turned to vegetable farming as a substitute venture.

As time went by, the prices of daily consumed products shot up. Most people complained about the increased cost of living and basic products used at home. I remembered the saponification process in Chemistry, where I was taught about soap making. I researched it and finally was able to make some homemade bar soaps for home use and sold the extra. I felt happy and convinced that my chemistry knowledge was useful. With all that excitement, I decided to explore other concepts, this time in Biology. I used the concept of anaerobic respiration to make homemade yoghurt.

As the saying goes, knowledge and skills not shared are not helpful. I decided to share my skills with interested people. I also write articles on my experiences to share with others who may be empowered by my story.

Ultimately, my love for sciences is paying off. The teaching credentials my parents wanted can now be manifested in the training sessions I conduct. The agriculture I didn’t like is now integral to my farming. Above all, the course I studied is helpful when writing informative or educative pieces.

All these experiences taught me that, first, flexibility is required in life. Second, how things unfold may differ from personal or community expectations. Third, when you fall in love with the process, the results may just follow after following the right steps. Lastly, we can control the process but not the outcome. These lessons protect me from depression.