🎓 Brainwaves, Bug Fixes & Baraton: The Education of a Wandering Soul

From debugging life and code to decoding cafeteria meals and faith, this is the story of how I found purpose, community, and the strength to keep showing up—even on low signal, both in person and spirit.

📘 Prologue: From Home to the Unknown

“Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is wave goodbye to the familiar shore.”

My story begins at the gates of the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton, with my elder brother “David Korir”—chauffeur, life coach, and walking playlist—dropping me off with a reassuring hug and a cryptic, “Remember who you are.” I stood there like Simba without Mufasa, except instead of lions, I was facing registration lines , unfamiliar food and environment.

💭 Reflection: That first moment alone didn’t break me—it baptized me into adulthood. Sometimes courage is just
 not running back home.

đŸ•Šïž Chapter 1: Faith in New Forms

“Faith wears different clothes but speaks in the same language.”

Baraton’s Adventist rhythm felt like spiritual culture shock at first—Sabbath worship, morning devotions, and bells with better time management than me. And then came Ellen G. White: my unexpected campus therapist. Her books—Messages to Young People, The Desire of Ages, and Christian Education—somehow knew all my inner messes and whispered clarity into chaos.

📝 Footnotes of Faith

Wisdom from Ellen G. White that helped me navigate faith, failure, and finding purpose.

Ellen G. White’s writings felt like quiet conversations with a mentor who somehow understood every emotional pitstop on my journey. These books didn’t just sit on the shelf—they walked beside me.

‱ Messages to Young People

Do not be discouraged at mistakes, but let them make you wise.”
Mistakes weren’t the end—they were instructions in disguise. Growth often hid behind glitches, reminding me that failure is part of the curriculum.

‱ The Desire of Ages

“The path to heaven is steep and rugged, but
 every step is lighted by His love.”
Every uphill battle—spiritual or otherwise—was lit by grace. Her words met me at my lowest and helped me climb, one prayer at a time.

‱ Christian Education

“True education
 has to do with the whole being, for eternity.”
Baraton shaped more than my résumé. It trained my heart, my values, and my soul. Ellen reminded me that who I was becoming mattered far more than what I was achieving.

🧠 Chapter 2: The Fellowship of the Stressed

“Friends are the family we choose—especially the ones who share notes, snacks, and sarcasm.”

University friendships were forged in the fire of assignment deadlines, mysterious cafeteria menus, and the quiet desperation of group projects gone rogue. Together, we laughed through disasters, hosted (technically illegal) birthday parties in the library, and faced homesickness with late-night dorm theology and wildly experimental baking.

These weren’t just classmates—they were study group saviors, emotional lifelines, and co-survivors of “The Great Cafeteria Confusion” and 8 a.m. lectures that felt like spiritual tests.

💭 Life Lesson:
The real curriculum wasn’t in the syllabus. It was friendship—learning how to show up for others, offer grace mid-crisis, and laugh when all else fails.

📚 Chapter 3: Academic Adventures (a.k.a Bug-Fixing 101)

“Education is what stays with you after the code fails to compile.”

Software Engineering sounded cool until you realized 90% of your life would be spent arguing with your own code. I broke apps, summoned bugs, and questioned my life choices over every semicolon. But with time (and caffeine), I learned to debug not just code—but my own expectations.

Shoutout to my Professors , who didn’t just teach literature—they made books interrogate me.

💭 Life Lesson: Code, like life, rarely works on the first try. But every fix brings you closer to who you're becoming.

đŸČ Chapter 4: Cafeteria Chronicles

“I came. I saw. I questioned what I was eating.”

Baraton’s vegetarian menu was a mystery novel with no plot resolution. From textured soya to “Special Sauce of Uncertain Origin,” every meal was a gamble. Bread roll smuggling became a survival skill. Meal plan debates got more heated than philosophy class.

💭 Life Lesson: Food brings people together. Sometimes to eat. Sometimes to conspire about escaping to town for chapati.

đŸ§Ÿ Chapter 5: Tears, Delays, Dramatic Plot Twists, and the Fight for a Transcript

“Your biggest challenge might not be exams—but a paperwork glitch that tests your very soul.”

Just when I thought I was home free, ready to graduate and exhale, I hit a wall—the kind made of signatures, stamps, and mysterious system errors. What followed tested my patience more than any final exam.
I won’t lie
 I cried. Yes—“a dry Kalenjin man“ đŸ«  with a decade-long no-cry streak. Broken. đŸ«  .It hurt at the time, but somehow, I made it through. And yes, I did graduate in the end. Maybe we’ll unpack that story in full later. 😅

🎓 Chapter 6: Graduation Glory

“Sometimes the walk across the stage is heavier than the diploma.”

With family cheering and my gown half-pressed, I walked that stage. Not just as a student, but as someone who had survived systems, seasons, and soy-based surprises. My elder brother proud grin said it all đŸ« đŸ« đŸ« .

💭 Life Lesson: That piece of paper meant more than just passing classes—it meant persistence, growth, and proving to myself I could finish something hard.

đŸȘž Chapter 7: Lessons Between the Lines

“You don’t always notice growth—until life tests you and you react like someone wiser.”

Baraton didn’t change me overnight. But somewhere between debugging loops and devotionals, I became someone new: more focused, more grounded, and surprisingly okay with uncertainty. Ellen G. White’s words still echo in my choices.

💭 Life Lesson: Growth doesn’t show up in your GPA. It’s in how you listen, love, and lead when nobody’s watching.

✹ Epilogue: Becoming Never Ends

“The end of education is character.” — MLK Jr.

Driving away from campus, I didn’t feel like I had arrived. I felt launched. Baraton didn’t just train me to be an engineer. It helped me become a builder—of resilience, of relationships, and of faith.

💭 Final Thought: University wasn’t just a place. It was a transformation. A hilarious, frustrating, divine detour into adulthood.

What Baraton Gave Me

📝 Closing Note:

If you’re in university or heading there, here’s my advice:

Cry if you need to.

Laugh often—especially at yourself.

Let your faith evolve.

And never underestimate the power of a good friend
or a well-hidden bread roll đŸ« .