FROM HIDING IN THE MAIZE PLANTATION TO FINDING MY VOICE

There was a time when going to school was something I feared.

When I was in primary school, I was bullied, and the fear became so overwhelming that I stopped attending classes. My mother believed I was going to school every day, but instead, I would hide in the maize plantations until it was time to go home. I pretended everything was normal because I was too afraid to tell her what I was experiencing.

When my mother eventually discovered that I had not been going to school, she was very upset. I still did not tell her that bullying was the reason. Eventually, my mother took me back to school, but I was no longer the same learner. Mathematics, which I had once been good at, suddenly felt difficult. By Class Four, I had become one of the lowest performing pupils in my class.

Then something happened that changed the direction of my life.This was the year 2015 the month of December.

My elder brother took me from our rural home in Bungoma County, western Kenya to Nairobi. When I first entered the school in Nairobi, I felt lost. Everyone seemed comfortable speaking English, while I was struggling to understand what they were saying.

But something was different about this school. The teachers were kind. They did not judge me. They encouraged me. The pupils welcomed me. No one made me feel like I did not belong.This really changed the way I was thinking about school life.

Slowly, I began learning English. Day by day, I became more confident. My mathematics improved too. For the first time in a long time, I started seeing something in myself.Confidence and potential.

The following year, my brother took me to a public school called Kimbo Githurai. I found another supportive environment, and I began enjoying school. I even became a student leader,something I had never imagined for the girl who once hid in maize plantations because she was afraid of school.

I completed my primary education, performed well in my final examinations, and continued to high school level where i also did well and attained the grade for joining the university.

Today, I am pursuing a degree in Education Arts and Social Sciences at Zetech University. Sometimes I look back at the little girl who used to hide in the maize plantations, and I cannot believe how far she has come. I want to become the kind of teacher I needed when I was younger,someone who notices when a child is struggling,stops comming to school, a teacher who listens without judging, and reminds them that they still have potential.

Looking back, one thing I wish I had known is that I could speak up. I was being bullied, but I was too afraid and ashamed to tell anyone. I thought keeping quiet was the only way to deal with it. That silence eventually made me afraid of going to school.

Today, as a student teacher, I think differently. I believe every learner should have a teacher who tells them, “You can talk to me. I will listen.” A child who suddenly stops performing, avoids school, becomes unusually quiet, or seems afraid may be carrying a problem that they don't know how to explain.

I want to be the teacher who notices.

I want my future learners to know that asking for help is not weakness, and that being bullied is never something they should have to face alone.

I once hid from school because I was afraid. Today, I am studying to become the teacher who makes another child feel safe enough to stay.