In a show of sheer determination to pursue her university degree, Mary Njeri,23, has gone out of her way to look for money to cater for her education.
The fourth-year student at Murang’a University pursuing Criminology has been working as a night guard at the Murang’a level five hospital after spending the day in class.
Additionally, in her free time, Njeri resorts to doing laundry for residents around Murang’a town as well as her fellow students to earn an extra coin.
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“I also clean the plot where I stay and get paid and this helps in my upkeep,” she stated.
Njeri, the firstborn in a family of five, said her parents are financially strained and she opted to work hard to sustain herself in school unlike her peers, who go out to look for ‘sponsors’
She says she sought her parent's advice and permission to look for jobs while still in school.
“When I thought of looking for employment I consulted my parents and they gave me a go-ahead though they were a bit hesitant in the beginning,” she said.
Njeri first worked at a restaurant before quitting to start a business.
“I saved money for a while and got enough to buy beauty products which I was selling to the members of the public and students in school,” she said.
On a good day, she would take home at least Ksh800 worth of profit.
The business was thriving until the pandemic hit forcing her to go back to the drawing board and figure out the next move.
It was then that she secured a job at a local security firm and she was deployed as a guard at the Murang’a district hospital.
She reports to duty at 6:00 pm and leaves at 6:00 am in the morning dashes home to freshen up and prepare for classes if she has morning lessons.
“When there isn’t much movement in and out of the hospital, I grab that chance to go through my books and revise,” she noted.
She however says she has had to deal with criticism from her peers who consider her job odd but this has not deterred her.
