Hello Nursing School: New Beginings....#TheAccidentalNurse

So, the last part ended with me boarding a bus alone to homabay after getting my acceptance letter and posting. While i wasn’t a stranger to travelling alone, as i had earlier indicated, a parent would normally accompany me to my first ever day- reporting/registration day. Sadly this was not to be the case this time and it was something that played in the back of my mind. I was nervous and scared on the inside and i really was not sure i had packed all the neccessary stuff i needed to carry with me. This was a first step towards adulthood, (which you wish for as a child, but in hindsight regret wishing your childhood away) and i wasn’t sure i was ready!

The bus park terminus is a busy place on any given day but on this day it was especially packed more than usual as schools were reopened for the third term and pupils were travelling to their various schools. Each destination had a designated spot within the bus park where you could board your bus or shuttle to wherever it is you were going. As i had never been to Homabay, i didn’t know where their designated stop was located and it took me awhile after alot of jostling and shouting to finally find the stop. Now if you have ever been to a bus terminal/park in Kisumu or elsewhere, you will know that it is the most nerve wracking place to be at and demands that you constantly have your wits about you. Between the various touts competing for your custom and luggage, to the hawkers trying to sell you their wares, coupled by the loud music playing in the various stalls not to mention the stifling heat and copious amount of dust! It is enough to drive you mad especially if you are already confused and stressed and have no idea where you are going, which bus or shuttle is suitable and will actually get you there and what the actual fare is! And boy don’t the streets know how to sniff out a con opportunity, so you have to try very hard not to look confused at all. I finally settled on a mini bus that looked like it was almost full, which meant it was about to leave, paid my fare,took my seat and prayed for journeys mercies.

The bus road trip to Homabay was long and arduous. At one point the tarmac ended and it was a long stretch of rough road all the way to the bus park in Homabay, which to my surprise and horror was nowhere near the MTC. Turns out I still had roughly two miles uphill to go and there were no taxis! I managed to find a handcart operator who agreed to carry my belongings and point me to the right direction as I was quickly losing time and would be late for my registration.  The uphill walk finally saw us reach a gate on a path lined with kiosks on one side and houses in a gated compound on the other. 

Homabay MTC was attached to the district hospital and while it had a somewhat separate compound from the hospital, it was accessed via the main hospital gate and then on the left past a white building that housed the morgue via a long corridor that led to the college itself. On approach you went past a building on the left with Department of Vector Borne Diseases(DVBD) written in big black letters on the outside, a field and then a white building that looked like a dining hall, on your right was a impressive brick 3 or 4 storey building with balconies that lead to an entrance way and finally to the main office where i was meant to report for registration. I passed students in blue dresses and white lab coats who were very friendly and helped direct me to the correct office. Often you would hear scuffles and jostling as the current students scrambled to see who was reporting with the occasional whispers of ‘fresh meat, how exciting’ amongst themselves. I had so many emotions coursing through me, nervousness, excitement, sadness given that this was a whole new start to my life and potential working life and sad that my mother nor any of my family members were not there to witness it especially when almost everyone seemed to have a parent or member of family present, guiding them and offering reassurance. I paid the handcart chap, got my belongings and went to join the registration queue outside the registration office.  

I was amongst the last students to register given my late arrival and ahead of me on the queue was a rather good looking, the ‘whole tall dark and handsome conundrum’ chap who was being told off by a woman who i assumed was his mother much to my amusement but what caught my eye, apart from the conundrum above was his dress sense and which i immediately decided that i would take on the task of changing, i just had to figure out how. Registration involved verifying my documents and going through the already submitted application forms to check that everything was correct and that I was ready to start my training to be an Enrolled Community Nurse. I also got to meet the person who would be our form tutor, a lovely and stern gentleman whom I decided I was going to get along with swimmingly. He had taken it upon himself to dispute the fact that i could be Muslim as per the entry on my form, and was determined to get to the bottom of “this nonsense” as he put it, especially given the fact that my baptismal certificate said otherwise and i had a whole Provost as my Godfather. Being Muslim was kind of my secret as i had reverted a year before in high school and no one in my family was aware. I loved a challenge and He and I were going to have lots of fun as he tried to figure me out!.

I collected my paperwork and was handed over to a sort of buddy from the older years who was to take me to my rooms and get me settled and then show me around, a mini orientation of sorts. While I had been in boarding school for all of my secondary school time, I was still nervous and a bit apprehensive about this new phase of my life. It felt like I was taking my first big steps into adulthood and independence which was exciting and scary at the same time but also very lonely as I had none of my family members or friends around me. 

Homabay MTC could house upto a hundred students on three storeys and the sleeping quarters were above the administration block. They were divided into male and female quarters separated by a barrier which I later learnt was duped ‘the septum’. The rooms were well proportioned like any student accommodation would, with a single bed, a study desk area, a wardrobe, sink and a balcony that overlooked the teachers quarters, main hall and dining hall. Each level shared a communal bathroom with several individual stalls and toilets and on the ground floor opposite the administration block there was a block of pit latrines. The administration block below consisted of faculty offices, a skills lab, a classroom, library, principles offices and the school matron's house. Only two of the teachers quarters were inhabited. one by the deputy principal and the other by our form tutor. all the other tutors stayed outside the college. 

My room was on the first floor as apparently freshers were always on the first floor and as i later discovered it is because the older years would be alerted to when an inspection was happening being that they were floors above thus giving them enough time to hide whatever contraband was being looked for, plus, there was the added fact that being higher up meant that it was harder to have a look into their rooms given that all room balconies faced towards the tutors quarters and main corridor into the college. 

It was pretty late in the evening, so after dropping my belongings in my room, i accompanied my allocated so called  buddy to the dining hall for supper and got the chance to meet other students in my class as well as the older years as they trickled in from their hospital placement shifts and those who were on days off, but had come down from their rooms to eat or to watch the communal television that was in the dining hall. It was a relatively friendly atmosphere and everyone seemed to get along just fine. 

I began to feel a tad more relaxed and was actually looking forward to the next day when our class would all meet for orientation. While we were busy getting to know each other, unbeknownst to us, the boys or should I say the men in the older year groups were busy deciding which of the new female students they were going to divide amongst themselves. Life as a nursing student was about to get very interesting!

To be continued………….