It is early April, and time for all those showers. Well, last night, we had LOTS of showers and also some chilly weather, just in time for a soccer tournament. Bearden was playing a rival school in a game that should have started at 9:00 pm. After four previous games, they were running half an hour late, so their game started just after 9:30, finishing about 11:30. That is WAY PAST my normal bedtime. However, I was there watching to the bitter end. Why? I ask myself that question every now and then.
 
A week or so before the tournament, I was informed that parents of players are expected to cover four time slots during the tournament. There is only one of me, so I had to sign up for a lot. Thursday, I was on the “hospitality” team, supposedly seeing to the needs of the press, scouts and other VIP’s. I was to pick up trash and check the restrooms periodically. When I asked the person in charge, it seemed she had everything pretty much under control, so I just watched the game and picked up trash and checked the ladies’ room.
 
Last night, however, I was on concession stand duty. I like that job because you can be in doors. We did a roaring trade in hot chocolate and coffee! Ben had worked as a ball boy from 4:00 – 7:00, then he came home to get warm and dry and have some supper. Together we headed back at 8:30 for the night shift. He sat with the team while I did the concession stand. Throughout the evening, I kept adding layers of clothing until at the end, I looked rather like an Eskimo!
 
The really interesting part of this story, however, is the game. It had rained steadily and continued to do so through the evening. The grass field was rapidly becoming a swimming pool. However, unless there is lightning, they don’t cancel the game.
 
Of course the players all looked like drowned rats after five minutes of play. When the ball was kicked into the air and came to earth in a puddle, it just sat there instead of bouncing. Players would scramble to get to the ball, and then slip and slide in the water and mud, crashing into each other or sliding down altogether. If they kicked the ball as it sat in the water, it basically didn’t go anywhere, just floated over to the other side of the pool of water. For the players, it must have felt like they were pushing a string.
 
As I’ve reflected on the game and the adverse affects of the weather, I saw a few parallels to life. Sometimes, we are trying our hardest, playing our best, but it just isn’t good enough. We tumble over someone else’s efforts or just slide down due to unexpected conditions. We position ourselves where we think we need to be, only to find out that is the totally wrong place and we are caught off balance. Sometimes we connect with the issue at hand, but it proves to be immoveable despite our best efforts. Occasionally, though, we use our skills in just the right way and experience success.
 
Throughout this exercise, we learn how to cope with unusually circumstances, new parameters and to change our expectations to fit the situation. It is an excellent learning experience, and at the end, we may even enjoy a few dives into the pools of difficulty to enjoy sliding through the trials like a porpoise landing on a beach.
 
What’s the secret of success? Persevere! Don’t give up. Remember, that there may be fewer pools of challenge on the other end of the field. In the second half, you switch ends, and sure enough, Bearden won: 3-2.

​Well, for those who have been eagerly awaiting news of Ben’s college acceptance, it hasn’t gone as we had hoped. He was accepted by Michigan State, which was a real encouragement. However, they didn’t offer much in the way of a scholarship. Duke didn’t accept him, and that was a BIG disappointment. So, he’s been back at the computer writing essays again.
 
We tried a new approach to the problem of finding a college for him; he is applying to need blind colleges. These are colleges, usually private, that have large endowments. When US citizens apply and are accepted, the college makes sure they can attend, so they take care of much of the tuition. Unfortunately, need blindness does not necessarily extend to international students. For them, the wording is “need aware”. So, they may pick up the scholarship or they may not. I guess it depends on how positively they see the potential student.
 
Ben’s ACT scores went up 2 points when he took it the second time, so that was good. The next ACT test will be a “free” one, provided by the high school and takes place in February. The advantage of having three ACT scores is that the school or someone then superscores it, so that the highest marks are the ones that go to the colleges. At least that makes you look better.
 
Now we come to the essay writing part of the application process. Colleges ask all manner of questions for the applicant to write about. The most common are: Who are you? and Why do you want to attend X college? Others are more philosophical, What is something that distressed you and what did you do about it? Or When did you take leadership in a situation? Who is your hero and why?
 
Every now and then, Ben looks up from his computer and says, “Do they know we are all just lying?” In other words, what they would write if they were honest, especially about why you want to go to that university is, “Let me in and I’ll like you and when I graduate with a good job, I’ll send you money. I’ll seek to make you proud of me, just LET ME IN!” or perhaps “I need the money and I’m hoping you will give it to me.”
 
Ben is or has applied to 11 different colleges and universities. I thought deadlines were later for internationals, but either they changed the deadlines or I read that wrongly. Most of the deadlines are January 1, a few on January 15. There are “rolling deadlines”. You can apply throughout the year and if accepted, start in a semester other than in the Fall. The schools he is applying to, for the most part, do not do that. Actually, it is better for students to all start at once, get to know each other, go through orientation together and form a solid community. If you come in late, you can miss all that.
 
Most of the colleges to which he has applied accept the “common application”. This is a wonderful cooperative effort that enables a student to complete one application with all the usual, but necessary information, including financial information, and do that ONE time instead of repeating it for each institution.  There is even an essay that goes with the Common App. If all institutions would accept just that, it would be much easier, however, that is not the case. While some colleges are willing to consider an applicant with one essay, most of them want more than that. So, the 11 colleges Ben is applying to require a total of 33 essays. Some could be reworked and used for similar questions, but even that takes a lot of time. He has spent HOURS and DAYS working on these essays.
 
The deadline of January 1 came, and he finally pressed “SEND” on the Common App. About 11 pm, he wondered if they had gone through. He checked, and realized to his horror that each essay had to be sent in separately. He leapt into action, and got the essays in before the midnight deadline. When he told me about it the next morning, my heart nearly stopped.
 
He has three more schools to apply to, and the deadline is in two days. One of them does not accept the Common App, so that one has to be done from scratch. Sigh. Then, we sit back and wait for the decisions, which are due on April 1.
 
One good thing about the essays: he has had a LOT of writing practice. Now that he is taking Senior English, he is writing a lot in that class. One assignment is to write in a journal each day. Ben described it as “writing about some random topic”. He has LOTS of random topics on his computer, thanks to the 33 essays! So, he’s probably good to go on the journal entries for a couple of months.

​On Monday, I sent the latest versions of the essays to a colleague at Johnson University, where I work. This time, I sent it to the Student Advisor who helps students get into graduate school. He quickly replied and said both essays were good, and Ben should do well wherever he ended up. That was really encouraging!
 
The applications and other information went in on November 1 as required. On November 3, Ben already had an interview with Duke University set up for November 10 here in Knoxville. I went to my colleague to find out how to prepare for that interview. He gave me a lot of good suggestions, but he also mentioned how we could best make use of our planned college visit. As I walked away from that meeting, I realized that God had set up that sequence of visit and interview at just the right time. My faith gets shaky, but then something like that happens, and I realize God is in control.
 
Having worked so hard to get the applications in, Ben went on a church retreat Nov 3-5. I picked him up on the 5th and we drove over to Raleigh. It’s a long way over there – about 6.5 hours.
 
On Monday, we headed to NC State for the 10:00 session and tour. It is a HUGE university, and they have very little interest in diversity. There are no known international scholarships, so while we enjoyed the presentation, we didn’t stay for the tour. We drove around the campus a bit, and found Ben was not great at map reading.
 
Our appointment for Duke was at 2:00. We arrived early and got a parking sticker, wandered about the campus a bit and enjoyed some of their great food. Duke is a much smaller university, but very “family-like”. The information session and tour were nicely done, and by the end, we were both amazed at the opportunities that were offered.
 
Over the past weeks, we have been getting in various bits of information: financial statements, transcripts, teacher recommendations. Ben’s Art teacher had no trouble putting her recommendation up on the link Ben sent her. But his English teacher couldn’t make it work, even after he sent it three times. So, in desperation, he sent her the admissions office email. I think that has gone in now.
 
Then there was the ACT debacle.  Ben took his ACT test on October 28, a Saturday. We’ve been waiting for his scores to come out, but as of November 16, they are not available. On November 14, Ben attended a Senior meeting at his school where the students were told the ACT had sent the wrong test books, and so could not verify the scores. Those tests would not even be graded. The only compensation was that the next test wouldn’t cost them anything. When scores are required for scholarships, and the due date is coming up immediately, that is not a lot of comfort.
 
Thankfully, Ben had taken the SAT last year as a 10th grader. The score wasn’t bad for his first effort, so I had him send that score to Duke. He also sent an email explaining about the ACT scores. I asked his counselor at Bearden to send a letter to Duke explaining the situation. On the 15th, she phoned me to say that Ben’s scores were not affected. The test that went wrong was a “free” one that Bearden provided for Seniors. Since Ben had taken his on Saturday, not a weekday, his test was valid. WHEW! I felt we had dodged another bullet!
 
Then, upon reflection, I realized that the standardized test scores HAVE to be in by Nov 17 or the application is canceled. If the ACT scores didn’t make it by then, we would be out of luck. But, having sent the SAT scores, it kept the application alive. So, while it was a heart-stopping experience, it has served to protect the application.  The good news is, the ACT scores came out on the 17th and went straight to Duke.
 
Now all that can be done has been done. We wait for the final decision on December 15. If the answer is “Yes”, we’re done! (Listen for shouts of praise and rejoicing.) If the answer is “No”, then we start over with a new set of colleges. There is no “Delay” decision for International students. Thankfully, applications for international students are later than for US students, so we will have until April for most of them.
 
God is not unaware of what we need, and makes sure we do it, even when we can’t understand what is happening at the time. We wait in hope.

I expected that this would be an exciting trip to North Carolina because I would get to visit Raleigh/Durham, and my dream university, Duke, and finally meet my friend who I had not seen since she came to the US in tenth grade. However, my exciting trip to NC came after an amazing camp to Doe River Gorge in Tennessee. After the camp, Leoma picked me up so we could go to visit colleges in NC.
We went to Doe River on Friday. Apart from the fact that it was a Friday and the fact that I would also get two days the following week away from school, I was particularly excited to get to go for that camp and just relax, and not think about school or homework. (It’s the best feeling ever!!)
Doe River was the perfect place to get to hang out with my new friends and just be myself. The environment was kind of cold but most of the time we were just running around so it was fine. I slept in a cabin with about eight other of my friends. We were put into small groups of about 10 random people and had fun group games. We carved pumpkins and made pumpkin snowmen. We played a game where you were supposed to use the carved pumpkins to fill an empty container with water by passing the pumpkin in a line. We also played this particularly fun game where we put the carved pumpkins on our heads and sprinted up a small hill and back down. After that, you passed the pumpkin to the next of your group members and they had to do the same.
After that, we had time to play other games that interested us. We had a football game, the boys vs the girls. It was different because they were on their feet and the boys played while kneeling. You may be surprised to know that the boys actually did win. The girls had on their military shirts on and black paint on their faces and looked ‘ready for battle’ but we still one in our sandals and shorts J.
We then went for a ride on the unimog. We went up the mountains and drove through the nearby creek and did all sorts of crazy stunts while screaming our lungs out from fright and being thrilled.
My friend Preston and I had a chance to ride on the zip line at Doe River. IT WAS AWESOME!!! The line ended in a small pool that was terribly cold. That made it difficult for me to get out after the ride. That and the fact that I cannot still swim (I’ll be taking classes next month I think).
After two days, the fun was over and we had to go back home. However, I did not go back with the rest because I was to visit colleges with Leoma in North Carolina.
We drove on for about four hours and got to Raleigh at night, checked in at a hotel, and slept without a word!
The next day, we visited North Carolina State University and then visited Duke. Duke was more exciting. It is a pretty campus and the buildings are also amazing. The community was very welcoming as well. I got encouraged by the number of opportunities at the University and can’t stop praying that I get in.
Later that day we met up with my friend, Jaye, from Kenya and her dad for dinner. We had a wonderful time but what I enjoyed most about that meeting was finally a chance to get to be myself and talk to somebody who fully understood me and my experiences. We also took lots of pictures at the restaurant.
Leoma and I slept at the hotel and prepared ourselves to leave for Knoxville on that Tuesday. I was more than glad to hear that that day was voting day which meant no school which meant more sleep ( I always equate days away from school to how many hours of sleep they are J)
It was definitely the best weekend ever!
 
 

Duke University accepts what is called the Common Application. Thankfully, a number of colleges have agreed on one application form, which is pretty extensive. However, if you only have to fill out one and then send it to multiple colleges, it saves a lot of effort. Unfortunately, Michigan State and Arizona State have not signed up to the Common App. Ben began the process of filling out the Common App, and eventually the Michigan and Arizona applications as well. But then, as all college applicants learn, there is the dread ESSAY!
 
Ben had been working on his essay: Who are you? Having never really been trained in how to write an essay in the first place, this proved a challenge. Halle was able to give some ideas, and he worked on it while his mother was around to help give him ideas. He took the result to his counselor at school who offered some suggestions. After a significant re-write, I took the essay in to an essay reader at Johnson University. She tore it apart, and gave me a lot of good suggestions as to how to approach this project.
 
We went back to the drawing board. We spent hours researching the mission statements and descriptions of the kinds of students the colleges wanted from their websites. Ben was making notes, but he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole process for a day or so.
 
I got a call from the school counselor. She needed to be given access to the Common App to do her part, and Ben had not yet added her. We fixed that problem immediately. Also, he didn’t have a teacher reference, so I encouraged him to ask his Art teacher. As soon as she was asked, she wrote out the recommendation letter! She didn’t need any information from him. She already knew what to write about him! It was done in a day.
 
Thursday evening, we were invited to a dinner, and ended up sitting with a very friendly banker. He and his wife had hosted several international students in their home, and he engaged Ben in conversation. That seemed to be a turning point for Ben. On the way home, he said that after the ACT test on Saturday, he wanted to stay home and work on his essays. That was music to my ears.
 
For our devotional reading on Friday morning, we looked at 2 Corinthians 6. It is basically Paul’s Who Am I essay. We looked briefly at how he had presented himself and the opposition he had faced. What great timing!
 
On Friday, he began writing an essay about why he wanted to study engineering. I asked him what he had said thus far. Was it something that would make a college want to pay him $40,000 a year for? “No!” was the reply. Well, we had better work on it. By the end of the evening, he had an amazing essay!
 
On Saturday morning before taking the ACT, our reading was from Isaiah 26 reminded us that “all we have accomplished is really from (God)”. Also, that passages says God “will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
 
It is early Sunday morning as I write this. The applications are due in on Wednesday. Yesterday afternoon, Ben began to think again about his Who Am I essay.  As we had read over the description of the type of students Duke wants in their engineering department, it seemed they were describing Ben. I told him that I thought Duke was his college, and he just had to help them see that. He looked at me for a bit, and then said, “Do you think I can really get into Duke?”
 
“Yes,” was my immediate response. “That is your school! “
 
Inspired, he began to write and didn’t move for nearly three hours. His mind was racing with ideas. When he finished, he said, “I’m fried. There is nothing left to say.”
 
The essay has 300 words too many, but that is easily remedied with some editing. I haven’t read it yet, but expect to find it much better than the previous efforts. Every now and then, he would look over at me and catch my eye. He seemed to say, “I believe I can do this, do you?” My eyes would say, “yes”, and he would take off again. It was truly an inspired evening for him.
 
As I think about it now, in the early hours of Sunday, I realize that this year has been on a path that none of us could see. The timing of events that turned the course of our direction, the intervention of teachers and individuals, the contacts, the opportunities have all directed us. I see God’s hand clearly in these events. God has a plan and a purpose. I think that plans for Ben include Duke, but even if it doesn’t, I know that wherever he ends up, God will have put him there, and used me to help facilitate it. What a journey!

​As I look back on the past year, I begin to see the path along which Ben and I have been traveling. Our association has not been accidental, but I believe it is according to a divine plan that I’m only beginning to see.
 
I was assisting Ben with his school fees in Kenya, and could very well have left my involvement to doing that for another year (this year). It would have been cheaper, and certainly less demanding on me.  But in February 2017 I re-read a thank you note that Ben had sent me, likely at his mother’s prompting. He mentioned how much he hoped to come to the US to study. It was almost like a switch flipped in me, and I wanted that to happen as well.
 
A dialogue began with Ben’s mother, Clene, to see if such a plan could be developed. I had no idea what it would involve, and neither did she. However, it was clear that I would need some kind of guardianship in order to make the necessary decisions and actions for Ben.
 
In March, I was seeing my estate attorney about some other matters, and asked him to prepare a guardianship letter for me to take care of Ben. Several weeks and several hundred dollars later, I had the letter. But I also had talked with the woman preparing the document, and she mentioned that I needed to contact the Board of Education to start the visa process. She also mentioned that I would probably have to pay for Ben’s education, and that could be several thousand dollars. Up to that point, I somehow thought I could do all this through the high school. Oh how naïve I was!
 
So, I began tracking down the correct person, and discovered Mr. Hartsell. I worked with him to get the visa process started. There were a few conversations that could have sufficiently put me off that I could have dropped the whole idea. But somehow, I couldn’t let it go.
 
At the end of June, we finally got the last of the documents that were needed to apply for the visa to the US. The interview was scheduled in July, and Ben’s school let out at the end of July. Our travel back to the US was booked for August 1. At the interview, many of the applicants were turned down, but within about five minutes, Ben’s visa was approved. When his mother collected the passport with the visa, it was good for five years!
 
We traveled as planned on August 1, and began the process of becoming acquainted. Still jet lagged, we finally managed to get all the paperwork done and money paid to get Ben into school. He got set up with a plan to graduate as a Junior in May 2018. The school has been amazing at working with us to put Ben in the classes he most needs to take.
 
Then we began the process of trying to get this young man in to college. I haven’t had to apply to college for a very long time, and the procedures and requirements have certainly changed! Fortunately, I knew Meryl. She has worked with her own children and a lot of homeschoolers, and has trained herself to become a guidance counselor of sorts. She sat down with me for an hour to explain such terms as “Early Decision” versus “Early Action”, how to get a scholarship and many other useful pieces of information.
 
Armed with this new knowledge, and having heard from many people about the importance of community service, I got Ben signed up to help with a Habitat project, working with refugee kids, and made sure he went along with the church youth group to help serve meals at a homeless shelter. At this point, it is October, and he has been in the country less than three months.
 
In the midst of all of this activity, I’ve also taken a part-time position as an adjunct professor at Johnson University. One day, in September, I was glancing over various bits of information on the Johnson website and noticed there was a US News survey of top colleges. I went to the link, and found some very helpful spreadsheets and resources for exploring colleges. For some weeks, Ben and I were researching possible colleges and trying to figure out what his career goals really were. He has strengths in math and physics and an interest in astronomy. How does that all come together?
 
Various men that he met began to talk about engineering, and that lead to thinking about aeronautical engineering.  I doubt he had ever thought about such a career in Kenya, as that is not a typical major there. The more he thought about it, the better he liked the idea. So, that helped us narrow our search.
 
At the advice of the school counselor, Ben was dutifully signed up for the ACT and the PSAT. He began attending practice sessions three afternoons a week to prepare for the tests.
 
During Fall Break in October, Ben’s mother and sister were able to spend some days with us. His sister, Halle, is studying at Wellesley on a full MasterCard scholarship. She knew a lot about how that scholarship worked, and pointed out that Duke University worked with MasterCard in the same way that Wellesley did. She explained that private schools choose who gets the MC scholarships while public schools, like Michigan State or Arizona State leave it to MC to decide who they support. We had Duke on our list, along with a number of other colleges. Suddenly, Duke became a more serious focus.
 
As we continued to discuss how to approach these applications, Halle suggested that we ask for an Early Decision from Duke. Yikes! I had been warned away from Early Decisions because if they accept you, you have to go there. If you back out, you can get blackballed, and can’t get in anywhere! Upon further investigation, however, if they accept you for Early Decision, they also have to offer you a scholarship that is acceptable to your family. That worked for us!
 
Halle also remembered that there was an application that had to be completed for the financial aid package. Thankfully, Ben’s mother was still here, and together they were able to complete that!  What great timing.
 

I couldn’t finish this story about school without mentioning sports. I love soccer partly because I can play it well ( I played for the school team in middle school and my class team at MHSK) and also because almost everybody in Kenya just loves soccer. At MHSK, we had games like basketball, volleyball, handball, soccer, swimming and yeah, that’s just about it! However, the further you go with your education the less your need for sports is perceived to be. Therefore, since I was a junior we had a 40-minute-long sports class once a week. This wasn’t so bad for the freshmen and sophomores because they could play some more during their free time from 4-6 PM after school. Juniors and seniors for the most part would just sleep for that one hour because of the tiring days we had. 
​
I don’t play much at Bearden currently because it’s not yet boys’ soccer season yet. Luckily I got a bike from one of our friends and it makes sure I have something to do every day after school, apart from justifying why I can eat pizza every day for lunch at school! J We also have a really nice soccer coach at Bearden who I am really looking forward to working with next spring.
 
That basically sums up the major change that I have had coming here. It is less stressful and I still feel tired after a day at school because they are also mentally challenging which is a good thing. I am eager to see what other changes I may have to experience during my stay here but still, I thank God that it he made it possible for me to study here.
 

​Let me give you an insight into what a day at Moi High School, Kabarak (MHSK) looks like. On a normal weekday, seniors are expected to be in class by 5 AM while juniors, sophomores and freshmen are to be in class by 5:30 AM. At 6 we would go and have breakfast at the dining hall till around 6:20. ( It still amazes me how the 1000 of us managed to have our meals within that short period of time!) Juniors and Seniors would then have classes begin at 6:30 till 7:20 after which we would go for School Parade; here we would sing the National Anthem and get any announcements there were for the week.
 
Classes for the whole school would then begin at 7:50 and go on till 10:35. We would then have a tea break up to 11 AM. From there classes would proceed for the next two hours after which we had lunch at 1PM till 2PM. After that, classes would continue up to four. (These were my hardest classes because I was full from the lunch I just had and the weather was more often than not warm and just perfect for a nap J. I always struggled to keep my eyes open.)
 
We would then have a break until 6 PM where one could go back to the dorm and maybe wash clothes or change for sports or even just sleep. However, juniors and seniors had to be in class at 5PM for remedial classes until 6PM. Supper was served for the whole school at 6 and would end at 6:30. Night preps would then begin at that time. Unfortunately for Juniors and Seniors, we would again have remedial classes from 6:30 to 7:30 while sophomores would have their remedial classes begin from 7:30 to 9:30 when they would end and everybody then went to sleep after that. Sometimes teachers would decide to keep students in class longer or ask them to wake up earlier than 5AM for extra remedial lessons.
 
So you may ask whether we had any time to revise our notes or complete assignments, well, the time for you to complete assignments was the time that you did not have a teacher in class so you may decide to get up earlier, or go to bed later than others or eat your lunch quickly; you were to avail time for yourself. And that is the reason I know a lot of stuff!!!At Bearden however, I have a pretty simplified program. Classes begin at 8:30 and break at 1 PM for lunch. I then have one remaining class which begins at 2 and ends at 3:30. No night preps, no remedial classes, sometimes no homework! J. For some classes we can even just take a walk around school or just play games at the gym. It’s a really relaxed education system compared to MHSK and quite frankly I love it!

​I have already spent about 6 weeks in the US and 3 weeks since I last wrote my blog so I definitely have a lot to tell. Many a time we have discussed with Leoma topics like how heaven is, college and how to cook (I started off with eggs and that didn’t go as bad as I expected J ). However, one major topic that always seems to get me emotional is about school. Not that I hate it or anything. In fact, I like school! It’s just that the differences I have seen here, at Bearden, with my school back in Kenya, Moi High School-Kabarak (MHSK), are just too big to not talk about. 
 
First of all, I was in a boarding school in Kenya which means I was at school for eight months a year; the first three from January till March, then from May till July and finally from September till early November. In between the terms we had short breaks for four days before returning to school for the second half. That seems like quite a long time at school, right? Well it is L and you will not believe how much we missed home.
 
I remember the time I was a freshman in high school from a day middle school. I was homesick by like the second week of school and always wanted to call home just to talk to my parents and have them assure me that it will be fine. I said tried because having phones in school was illegal. Actually, having any electronic device for that matter was not allowed. Even having earbuds was illegal, even if you didn’t have a phone or iPod or anything. You were only required to have books and pens. But that doesn’t even hint for you what life was like so allow me to do the honors.
 
At MHSK, it was a rule to always have the full school uniform on. So strict was the rule that you could even get punished for not putting on your tie. * Currently shaking my head and rolling my eyes *. We were also expected to have our own supplies in school, enough to last you for 3 months. These included things like soap (for taking cold showers and washing your own clothes) , toilet paper, stationery, blankets, pillows and sheets ( which went on your bunk bed) and shoe polish. All these items would all be squeezed into your own 20 by 60-inch locker in your cubicle where you stayed with eight other students; 2 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 2 juniors, 2 seniors.
 
You get to live with those other 7 people so long that they become like brothers to you and share in most of your best high school memories. When I think of them remember how we used to tell many stories at night, dance and let out our frustrations about classes we didn’t enjoy. However, interactions did not end there because there were about 200 other people from the remaining 24 cubicles from different backgrounds and who you could socialize with and make lasting friendships with., like I did. J
 
I love being in a day school like Bearden simply because you come home every day, and eat cookies and ice cream, and watch Hawaii Five-0 before you sleep.
 
In contrast, most Kenyan high schools require that you be faithfully in class for most of the time. They don’t want you to go home for ‘unnecessary stuff that only makes you fail your exams’ like weddings and graduations and sickness.
 
Then there’s the food issue! You were to only eat the food provided in school which was mainly rice with something like beans or beef stew. For all suppers but Saturday’s, we had ‘ugali’ which is like African corn bread with kale and beef.
 
If you wanted however, you could bring your own food with you from home: fruits, bread, milk, jam or butter to put on your bread, sugar to put in your milk and maybe coffee or tea bags J. I know it doesn’t sound like much but trust me if you still had these by the time the school term was almost coming to a close, you were like a small ‘king’ or ‘queen’ and everybody wanted to make you happy so you could at least share some of your riches with them.
 

When Ben and I arrived back in the US after 30+ hours of travel, we took a day to recover. The next day, however, I was in touch with the Knox County Education office to try to determine how much I needed to pay them for Ben’s tuition. Since Ben is not my court-appointed son, but only my self-selected son, and since neither he nor his parents are US citizens or even permanent residents, I have to pay the cost of his education. So, I contacted Mr. H to ask him for the amount that I owed. He promised to get back to me that afternoon or the next morning. As I understood it, ntil I paid, I couldn’t register Ben at school.
 
Thursday came and went with no word from Mr. H. On Friday, I decided that Ben and I would go sit in the office, as it is much more difficult to ignore someone who is sitting outside the office door, looking at you every time you go in or out. It is a good African technique. Ben played with my iPad and I played with my phone for two hours! Finally at about noon, Mr. H said he still didn’t have an answer for me, and I should go ahead and register Ben at school.
 
What I hadn’t realized was that an orientation was in progress at the school from 8:30 – 12:30. Needless to say, we missed that. After grabbing some lunch, we headed off to school.
 
We got in the registration line, and after some 20 minutes or so, we got to the table with four computers on it. There was a form that needed to be completed, but it had nothing to do with registration! It was about a dog. Apparently, the school has a therapy dog that visits classes, and they needed permission for the dog to visit in Ben’s classes. Otherwise, it lived in the school office, and wasn’t to be abused by the students. Having signed that electronically, we moved to the next queue.
 
We were in a lengthy queue of returning students registering for the new school year. There was another place for New Students. I decided that was where we needed to be. The lady at that place didn’t really seem to know what to do with us, so after a bit of discussion, handed us off to someone who did. She found another lady to take us to the Guidance Office where we could ENROLL! At last we were on the right track, or so we thought. The Guidance Office had a sign out front to say, “New students enrolling should return Monday between 1:00 and 3:00.” UGH!
 
I picked up a packet of papers for a senior enrolling. Then our guide suggested finding the ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. We found her in her classroom, and she was certainly VERY helpful. After explaining our situation, she asked Ben if he would like to take an Algebra 1 placement test. He agreed, and she brought in about 10 pages of problems. He worked through those while I played on the iPad. On Monday, we found that he was the first student she had tested who actually passed the test, and he only missed three questions!
 
On Monday, we headed back to school just before 1:00. Ben took his English test while I sought to get him enrolled. While sitting in the Guidance Office, which I now consider my second home, I was impressed with the way the staff handled the students. How they kept track of that many people asking that many questions I do not know, but I did notice all the staff are women (definitely good multi-taskers!). Some new students were given quite a talking to by one staff person – “You must take responsibility for yourself! Will you promise to get up in the mornings in time to get to school on time? You need to complete your homework and have it ready to hand in! You have had two chances already, and you need to take this seriously. “ To another student she said, “If I’m interviewing you for a job, I don’t want to see your academic record. I will know in five minutes of talking with you what that is. I will want to see your attendance record. If you were absent a lot or late, the interview would be over! I need to know, as an employer, that you will turn up to whatever you are supposed to be doing!” Good advice!
 
After going over all the paperwork, I needed two more documents. One of those documents required a visit to the Health Department to get Ben’s “shot record” on a Tennessee form. Until they had those, we could go no further. So, when Ben completed his English test, we headed back home again.
 
On Tuesday, we found the Health Department and completed the necessary forms there. We were told to phone to check if the documents were completed before we returned in the afternoon. When I phoned, they had had some difficulty reading the copies they had made, so I brought the originals and Ben. It turned out he needed three more shots, which didn’t really make his day. However, by the time we finished there, we still had time to go to school to hand in the documents.
 
At 3:45, we were back at school, Ben taking his Algebra 2 test, and me back in the Guidance Office. I handed in the last two documents and felt I had climbed Mount Everest in the process. Now, they needed to figure out where to place him and what classes he should take. It was decided that Ben should come in at 10:00 to take his Geometry placement test.
 
I had a meeting on Wednesday, so when Ben finished his Geometry test, I came to pick him up, only to discover we were not finished yet. The main office, namely Mr. H, had put a hold on Ben’s enrollment process, but had not said why. I knew why. They wanted their money! So, Ben couldn’t start school until that was resolved.
 
So, on Wednesday afternoon, I finally got in contact with Mr. H and found out the number I had been waiting for. Having made arrangements to have this sum in my bank account, I was able to go to the office and give them a check. In the banter with Mr. H, I asked him to contact the school to let Ben in. He did phone the principal, but at that time of the afternoon, it was soon forgotten. So, when I brought Ben in for school at 8:30 Thursday morning, no one knew anything. GROAN! Back home again.
 
As soon as I got home, I started phoning and emailing Mr. H. Finally at 10:00 he phoned me to say that Ben was now cleared to start school! WHEW!
 
At 10:30 we got to the Guidance Office and had to wait our turn to be seen. They weren’t sure whether to enroll him as a Senior or a Junior. The problem was that he had completed 2/3 of his Junior year (Form 3). Kenyan schools start in January and end in December. In any case, one of the ladies informed me, Ben could graduate as a Junior! I looked at her in amazement and she assured me it was true.
 
We sat around until 12:00, watching lots of students coming by and overhearing some interesting conversations. One of the students was graduating early and already had a job lined up for the summer. He was going to be in an office, and was lining up his staff from his fellow students. That young man definitely qualifies as an entrepreneur.
 
Eventually, the Senior Advisor came out with a tentative schedule for Ben and said he could start classes that afternoon. They discovered he played soccer, so the coach was called to meet him. The coach contacted three of his senior students on the team and had them come to take Ben around school and to his classes. They seemed to be very nice young men. Unfortunately, one class was taking a test but the other was going over new terms: capitalism, communism, etc.
 
Finally on Friday morning, I dropped Ben off in the morning. As we drove up to the school, he was texting madly on his phone. I asked if he was contacting his friends to meet him and he said, “yes”.
 
Later in the day, he saw the ESL teacher who told him he had successfully passed his English test and all the math tests! The classes that day were not terribly interesting. One class had no books, so students just played on their phones. In another class, the teacher made no effort to do anything, so the students played on their phones. In Art class, a requirement to graduate, the students were asked to color their names. Ben couldn’t believe he was being asked to do that! I wondered what I had paid all that money for! Still, he met more students and began to make friends. It is a huge school, and they have more students this year than ever before, so I guess it takes them a week to get people in the right classes so they can properly start!
 
On Saturday, Ben pulled out a number of forms for me to sign. One was from the art teacher, asking for $40 for supplies and for me to sign for permission for Ben to use those supplies. I expect none of my “tuition payment” will make it to the art teacher for supplies, so I’ll need to send a check. Another of the papers began, “After reading this, complete the following information.” There was nothing else to read, so I wrote “what?” next to the “this”. The final paper outlined the courses that Ben had to take to graduate, and to affirm he could complete those requirements by May! I needed to sign that and write a typed letter outlining the plan and motivation for graduating a whole year early. It looks like we may succeed in our plan after all.