Kenyan Wits

I know you have heard about this orientation event for first ‘years’. While some have wondered what it concerns, other don’t know its importance. This gives me the opportunity to clear the confusion. To begin with, orientation is an event meant to introduce newcomers into an institution. In college, first years are grouped into departments and their supervisors take them around the institution. You remember in Form 1 when your guardian or godparent showed you around the school so that you became familiar with the school? Now, this is the college version, though here, you are in groups and instead of a guardian, it’s a supervisor. You will later assemble for meetings probably on the second day and here the department staff will take you through the rules of the institution. These meetings are very crucial if you plan to graduate. I say this because some information from these meetings might never be mentioned again until when you go to pick you degree and get dismissed for not adhering ...

You are done with high school and want to progress to campus. You scored good grades or you meet whatever other qualifications your campus of choice dictates as the benchmark. You know your general area of interest but there are so many fields under it becomes overwhelming to select one. And everyone’s waiting for you to make the big decision. Can be a bit terrifying, I’ll give you that. But here’s the thing. You should, for starters, be proud of yourself for knowing where to begin. There are more people than one can imagine who actually have no idea what career path they want to follow. Sure, there’s knowing what you cannot possibly do. I am afraid of blood and cannot to this day bring myself to touch raw meat when I am cooking. So I definitely know I cannot have a successful career in the field of medicine. But why not law? Or Physics? Maybe a Chemistry related course. Expose yourself in several short courses This is one of the reasons I advocate for a short stint in several fields b...

Online hostel booking of rooms is finally in JKUAT after a long wait especially since other top universities had already integrated it in their system. The JKUAT fraternity received the news from the Accommodation Secretary Cynthia Toel late last week. This comes at a time when allocation of hostels is very hectic due to the limited number of rooms available compared to the increasing number of undergraduates. Precisely, she sent this brief memo which circulated through Whatsapp   From: Accommodation Secretary To: All students RE: BOOKING OF HOSTELS Everyone including continuing students will book rooms online. Students are supposed to log in their students portal and they will see the option for hostel booking. They are allowed to select the hostel, floor, room, and bed they want. First years will be sent their login details. Mode of payment will be via Mpesa, where one is expected to pay the full accommodation fee, that is; 6500, after successfully reserving a room . The option of bo...

Stop thinking of big ideas, think of small ideas in a great way, these are the words that blew my mind as Peter Muthee told me his journey as a young and fresh entrepreneur. Peter Muthee is the founder of Saikle Bikes; a bike renting company currently operating in Juja. Through the amazing outpour of customers for his service, Peter has made tremendous progress but all these did not come on a silver platter. Peter was a Geomatics Engineering student at JKUAT, Kenya’s premier institute for engineers. As a young man who wanted to enjoy his college life, he chose biking as a pass time activity and soon he was benefiting from the sport; more so, his breathing difficulties healed. In the second year, he came up with the idea of renting bikes to earn some cash as every comrade strives to do. But he did not want to benefit alone, so he decided to present his idea to the Association of Geomatics in JKUAT so that the club would raise funds for their activities. The officials at that time turned...

JKUAT held its 2016 Food Expo Competition at the Pavilion grounds in 28 th July. The function was planned to span over 3 days; Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We all know that this institution is known for its innovative students who always think out of the box as they find ways of making this country a better place. Well, this event was a clear testimony of their dedication to innovations. Sponsored by the JKUAT Nissin Foods, the event involved families coming up with tantalizing dishes centered on the Nissin noodles. There were four groups, all tasked with combining whatever ingredients they had in their imaginations and prepare a noodles dish that will make everybody desire to taste. Customers would then buy each dish at a subsidized price of 20 shillings and enjoy. A customer is given a card where small stickers of distinct colors from all groups are planted after buying any of the dishes. When customers buy 3 or more dishes and hence have the same number of stickers, they can go ...

When choosing an apartment for your student days you need to know your price range and play around with other important factors, keeping in mind your price range. For instance, bedsitters along Thika Road will range from 4,000, if you are determined, to 15,000 if you are, well, rich, one bedroom 6500- 15000 and so on. Is the electricity and water bill included in the rent? Is it not? To avoid the added expense of buying furniture you could find an off-campus hostel. You could choose to split costs with friends and rent a larger house. Do check with the management though as some apartments have rules against this. Security is a key factor what with burglary being commonplace in university towns. If you will have classes late into the evening, you do not want to be commuting to the middle of nowhere at night, especially if you are not good with knives. Security can be as simple as the apartment being in a frequented area and you are guaranteed relative safety late into the night. It cou...

Being broke is the most common adventure in college, if there was a club for broke students, it will be the most dominant society in all colleges. However, did you know it is very easy to remain financially stable for the most part of college life and still manage to save money for your future? There are a lot of temptations in college that aim at putting a dent in your finances and you should be well aware of these agents of insolvency. With the right money attitude and control, you can save daily and still be cool. Brotherhood/Sisterhood Living Communal living is advantageous especially when it comes to distributing expenses. By the time you reach the second year you will realize how living with a friend can lift most burdens from your life let alone your finances. To start with, you will pay less rent for a better apartment. Also, if you had a roommate outside campus you can come together to put meals on the table and take shifts in cooking and dishwashing. You can also buy the hous...