My name is Joan*. I sat for my KCSE in 2008 and scored a B–, but back then, that wasn’t enough to guarantee a direct entry into university as a government-sponsored student.

My single mother was unemployed, and there was no way she could afford to self-sponsor my education. That’s how my dream of becoming a software developer slowly faded away.

I stayed out of school for three years. Somewhere along the way, this son of Adam convinced me to get married and, before I knew it, within five years I was a mother of two. Then Covid hit, and life became extremely difficult. One morning, my husband simply woke up and disappeared—he could no longer handle rent, bills, or the pressure of life. I later heard he moved back to Kisumu to “restart” life with the love of his life. But anyway, back to my story…

To survive, I had to find a hustle. I learnt hairdressing and got a chance to work in a salon on commission. At first it was tough, but things got better once clients started appreciating my work. Today, I comfortably earn about Ksh 900 a day and save around Ksh 400 daily.

Late last year, I came across a post on this page talking about the Open University of Kenya …. how affordable and flexible it is. Honestly, I thought it was a joke until I checked their Facebook page. I decided to dig deeper, and to cut the long story short, I enrolled for a Bachelor of Computer Science.

This year, the total fees are about Ksh 80,000. That means I only need to save around Ksh 7,000 per month and about Ksh 2,000 for bundles, which is roughly Ksh 300 bob a day.

Today, I am genuinely happy ☺️. I’m pursuing my dream course at a fraction of the cost, still working in the salon, and still learning. I take my lessons in the morning before heading to work.

I am sharing my story not to brag, but to remind anyone reading this that there is a chance for all of us. With just 300 bob a day, you can graduate with a tech-related degree from the Open University of Kenya. And if even that is hard, you can apply for HELB and government scholarships ….. you might end up studying almost for free.

Keep going. Your dreams are still valid.