How I Earned a Degree in Twelve Years

By Kevin Pope

In life we face various challenges and it does not matter how many times we fall but whether we rise at all and seek our objectives in life. I’m not exceptional in surmounting challenges of life and it is for this reason I expose one of my greatest journeys of life towards attaining education.

I quote three of greatest men in history who have motivated me in life when I read of their history. Nelson Mandela was in prison for twenty seven years but he didn’t lose sight of his purpose. He said “It always seems impossible until it is done”. I therefore realize impossibility is a state of mind.

Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the rights of black people in America and led the greatest civil rights movement. He too had his eyes set to a purpose and he said “We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope”. Disappointments riddled my journey but I kept hope alive at every step of the way.

Abram Lincoln, the christened father of History was president of the United States of America at a time of civil war. He led his nation through this gruesome ordeal and realized the American dream by abolishing slavery. He once said “Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing”. I’m driven by character of determination and zeal not to defeat purpose.

It took me twelve years to earn a degree I would have earned in four years or otherwise less. Be motivated by my story as I do this narration to you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin Pope
• Release date: Mar 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370795444

Kevin Pope

Name: Kevin PopeNationality: KenyaEducation: College, FinanceAuthor, Entangled Seduction, Other works include "Gladiators" The Masons Kingdom,The dog in the man www.entangledseduction.com

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How I Earned a Degree in Twelve Years

"12 Years a Degree"

Kevin Pope

Copyright 2017 by Kevin Pope

Smashwords Edition

Foreword

In life we face various challenges and it does not matter how many times we fall but whether we rise at all and seek our objectives in life. I’m not exceptional in surmounting challenges of life and it is for this reason I expose one of my greatest journeys of life towards attaining education.

I quote three of greatest men in history who have motivated me in life when I read of their history. Nelson Mandela was in prison for twenty seven years but he didn’t lose sight of his purpose. He said It always seems impossible until it is done. I therefore realize impossibility is a state of mind.

Martin Luther King Jr. fought for the rights of black people in America and led the greatest civil rights movement. He too had his eyes set to a purpose and he said We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope. Disappointments riddled my journey but I kept hope alive at every step of the way.

Abram Lincoln, the christened father of History was president of the United States of America at a time of civil war. He led his nation through this gruesome ordeal and realized the American dream by abolishing slavery. He once said Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing. I’m driven by character of determination and zeal not to defeat purpose.

It took me twelve years to earn a degree I would have earned in four years or otherwise less. Be motivated by my story as I do this narration to you.

Chapter I

In the Beginning

It’s first things first. Let me introduce myself and make me known. My name is Kevin. I’m born of a father and a mother who were both educators, academicians. They have both taught virtually every soul of my time in yester years in my community, in my generation including myself. I schooled in the schools that they perfected their careers in. My father was more senior than mother. He was expansive of experience and known to be a ken of knowledge. He oozed of prowess in his trade. He taught teaching trainees in college and went ahead to become one of the best known educator of his time. He was a revered disciplinarian and a staunch advocate for extracurricular activities training the best athletes in our generation who ended up joining the military while others became sports personalities. He was himself a gifted athlete.

I recall my tender years when I schooled in his institution. My father was an early riser and would leave for school too early for me to keep up, including most of the pupils. What befell us was a punishment which was not only unique but also gruesome. He paraded us in the school field at seven thirty in the morning, his usual time deadline and ordered us to run eight kilometers of track for lateness. He ran with us and beat us to it regardless of his seniority in age. He wasn’t preferential to anyone when it came to lateness. I wasn’t spared either. He wouldn’t understand how we came from the same house and while he was punctual, I was late. The wrath was the same meted to me as was to my fellow pupils. The following morning we would become pacesetters by all means.

In his hey days as a young man and while in secondary school, he was fortunate to share the same track and field with to be renown Kenyan athletes who went on to become professionals in their own sport. He shared the same track with the legendary Kipchoge Keino, the two time Olympic gold medalist in 3,000m steeplechase and 1,500m. The legendary Robert Ouko, the 4 by 400m relay Olympic gold medalist and a former family in-law was also among the athletes he was able to compete with. Whereas he chose to become a college tutor and a professional teacher, they chased their dreams to become professional athletes and excelled in their respective fields of play an aspect my father pride himself in despite abandoning professional sport for teaching.

On the flipside, my mother was a humanities teacher and a senior disciplinarian in her school. She taught Geography and was the best historian. Her perfection was in music. She’s accredited for leading the school music club to glory in many competitions during her stint in her career. She was also a revered disciplinarian just like father. She taught in a different school which was farther away than my father’s in terms of distance and she too, lateness wasn’t entertained. She was the earliest bird that led the perch. I attended nursery school in her school. Although the rules were largely relaxed for us who belonged to junior school, she was hesitant to encourage lateness and most times I left the house in tow regardless the chilling weather and the freezing morning dew. She too extended no olive branch to me when it came to lateness. I later transferred to my father’s school which was closer home but my other siblings endured the long trek throughout their schooling life to my mother’s school with exception to my younger brother who joined me later.

I was born the sixth of the seven siblings. Along the way, I lost an all rounded elder brother to a mysterious brain tumor that baffled medical intelligence. He stood out intellectually and as an athlete. He was in form six, the final class of the then education dispensation. He was sitting for his final exam when he was taken ill and suddenly went blind. I see this event as the first elusive calamity towards attaining the first academic degree in my family. His demise after a long harrowing illness had sealed the fate and for someone who was seen to

Reviews for How I Earned a Degree in Twelve Years

[Kevin Murungi · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

An inspirational piece depicting insatiable quest for education regardless of the intertwining challenges against this ultimate goal. Kudos!!