I got paged in my first week in campus

My name is Mercy Barasa and I got pregnant while in my first year. To be precise, in my first week in campus. It almost destroyed me.

This is my story. My first year in the university meant a lot to me. This was the first time I first had a free environment and in a full control of my life. I was free to choose my own friends, choose what to eat and choose when to go to bed. From day one, I made friends with my course mates who I met at the department of business. This was contrary to the life I led before – a life of absolute confinement.

A feeling of adventure took its toll on me. The craving for a boyfriend was a special one. Indeed, I got a boyfriend, a senior and finalist. I treasured my virginity too much, but still wanted to experience intimacy. I tossed myself in the wind of peer influence. The first Friday of my campus life and the consequence thereafter hurt my life. I lost my virginity. I also conceived.

I remember going out with my two female friends and three men to a club in Westlands. I was curious about everything, including the drinks. I took some sips and passed out. I woke up the following day in a blood-stained bed in my ‘lover’s’ house. It had happened. I had lost it. I realised I was pregnant a few days later.

I had joined in September, so I carried on to the end of the semester. My boyfriend who had previously professed his love for me denied responsibility. My mother was disappointed in me. At the end of the second semester in April, I never went back home but instead opted for my elder sister’s place where my mother only learnt of my condition on the last month of the pregnancy.

I experienced real psychological torture. For starters, I had to resume the second semester three weeks late after the official date of opening since I had to leave the baby well taken care of. I was worried how my friends at campus would think of me.

It utterly affected me socially. With my degree in Bachelor of Commerce (human resource management) I moved on and today I do well in the business industry. To the first years, I urge them to learn their environment, be careful, alert and sober.