Essay: At the varsity, they come in different shades

"You are looking at a man who has reached the end! In our country, there is no rising beyond the position of Prime Minister," he paused, before adding,
"With so much more ahead, you are better off."
This was the wise counsel of Professor Singh to his students. Seconds earlier, the fleeting motorcade of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, of India, had spurred them to their feet, in the middle of the lesson.
Such is the price of university education that even a man of Narendra Modi's standing, when placed on a scale of possibilities that lie in store for the student seated at a lecture theatre, he diminishes into an untraceable speck.
But what awaits the absentee student? Whose fluffy pillows, fine sheets and thick blankets are her dearest companions? Whose yearning for an education dwindles away into the deceitful warmth?
Certain as death to the student is a calling to sit examinations to cap off each semester. The veil that separates honesty and dishonesty on these heavy days, grows thinner with each class that passes unattended. Under the intense heat of recollecting and pressure to keep pace with time in the exam room; too weak to withstand, the veil melts away for those that chose sleep.

Facebook founder and boss and founder Mark Zuckerberg is a famous non-graduate but remember his success rests on the brains of graduates. [File, Standard]

Now, who among these students, I dare ask, possesses sufficient moral authority to challenge the un-constitutionalism and corruption in Parliament, while they themselves partake in bypassing examination rules and regulations? Who?
There is also the adventurous one, who, unable to resist the allures of nightlife, delves into it and only reappears at her dwelling-place when the cocks crow, wasted, faded and legless.
In the light of day, the university admits students; but when the sun goes down, readmissions begin. Welcome to the online university. Here, everyone poses with high-grade liquor in upmarket nightspots where alcohol is the lifeblood of the dazzling, night long parties. Members puff on cigars in their wealthy, influential social circles and satisfy their bodily nutritional demands at The Kempinski. Imaginary at best.

Practising co-habitation
Still and all, there exists an alternative university in obscurity. There, young, visionary scholars, with uncommon zeal, immerse themselves in manuscripts and publications all night; devoted faithful, glorify their creator till the day breaks; budding entrepreneurs, patiently stay up late to earn the extra cent and; dedicated boys and girls, walk the extra mile to hone their skills and talents in music, arts, science and sports.
Then there is the runaway fellow who only turns up at her place on an opening day, the date on which she decamps to a nameless location to practise cohabitation.
Then there are heartwarming tales of lovers, who first linked up in at the campus, and then went on to leave their indelible footprints on humanity, thus attaining honour in the eyes of men at the grandest of stages.
They became a source of pride and inspiration to all who knew them back then and have been immortalised in song and poetry, books and films.
It is only natural for young, upbeat adults, who only have eyes for each other, and seek to earn the admiration of the public, to endeavour to steer their hopes and dreams in conformity with this script.

Another famous non-graduate, Bill Gates, he of the Microsoft fame: Remember not all non-university finishers can be him.[File, Standard]

Nevertheless, such a union rests entirely on the solid bedrock of education. It provides a unique chance to engage in a trustful give and take and more importantly, study harder more willingly than resting on one's laurels.
Furthermore, it is primarily the quest for higher education that sets the scene for mingling undergraduates, who, out of the purposeful effort, earned their place at the university.
Finally comes the dropout; who, even though perfectly capable of meeting the hefty demands of university education, chooses to follow the dictates of her own conscience that points to matters non-school.
Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are college dropouts. Their quitting stories are just about as legendary as their accomplishments in technological advancement, business and philanthropy.
But for the exceptionality in them, these stories would lack enough juice to have them told and retold while still retaining their sweet taste.

Don't try this at home
That these very hard-working men swim in a pool filled with graduates has not been stressed enough. What has been whispered in even lesser decibels is the pool in which the dropout who is neither a Bill Gates nor a Zuckerberg operates. A peculiar silence surrounds this broader class of dropouts. What do they have to say for themselves? What do they feel of themselves? Perhaps satisfaction, perhaps regret.
All that can be asked of the up-and-coming daughters and sons of our land is a prompt return to the moral codes taught in early days.
Even the humblest comrade, when clad in the armour of honesty and hard work, passion and truth, in all she undertakes, is stronger than all the pressures, fears and failures that may impede her evolution. She experiences unbounded freedom. She faces each day with an abiding faith and unyielding hope in her future prosperity; and above all, deep inside her bones, she feels no need to apologise, for her way of life.
The writer is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student a the University of Nairobi