College Reflections

Friday greetings.
Wednesday the 18th of January in the year of transformation, 2017 was a wonderful day for me and other 541 people who graduated with various papers from the University of Malawi. Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery is the paper I got. Fancy, right? Some would (probably rightly) say that the whole idea of Richie studying medicine was not a good one. I don’t think that even time will be able to tell but one thing that I hope is that the whole thing was for the best.

When we were getting close to the finish line in medical school, I always told my friends that my day of graduation would not be the most exciting day of my career. I always said that the graduation would just be a symbolism of what I have already achieved and would probably be more for family and friends than it would be for me. True to my word, I was very excited the moment I checked my results and found that I had made it out of the College of Medicine unscathed (you don't wanna know how excited I was). Needless to say, graduation was fun too and going through the rehearsals and the ceremony itself gave me a couple of thoughts that I would like to share here.

My entry into the college wasn’t a rather atypical one. Having passed with flying colors, everyone from family and friends was on my neck when it came to the time for making the choice of what program to study in the university. For some reason almost everyone seemed to be pointing the way to the College of Medicine for me for reasons ranging to my ability and aptitude to job security and nice perks (iyi tisayankhulepo zambiri). The fact that I am doing my clinical internships at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre now means I bowed to the pressure and gave up on my dreams of being a computer programmer and website designer like Edmond Kachale and decided to go the medical way. Regrets? None at the moment.

Having gotten into college, there was a whole lot of excitement. I had been put together with a whole lot of geniuses and got to interact with the best when it came to teachers and peers. The foundation year was a piece of cake despite a few hiccups (Physics ndi alongo ache kuvuta) but the real struggle came in when I got to my first year. It was time to study the basic medical sciences (Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry and all the other fancy stuff). The large volumes of things to study and the level of new material that my little brain had to acquaint itself with was a bit too much to  handle and it wasn’t too surprising that I struggled to make the passing mark in my first ever mid-semester examination of first semester (you probably never knew that). My first reaction was that of pointing a blaming finger at those who had orchestrated my entry into the medical profession in the first place, because in my view one of the main contributors to the failure was the fact that I wasn’t doing what I was passionate about. I remember going to the room of one good friend of mine and classmate to tell her of my fate and later texting Dr Chiwoza Bandawe about my results. The message I got from the two was simple; I needed to move on and work on improving in the next paper. These two will be glad that I did.

The whole thing of bouncing back from failure taught me a thing or two. I could have easily given up on this whole medicine thing and looked for something better. Of course options were not too many out there and that forced me to get and stay on my feet to the end but to me that was one big lesson on persistence in everything. It was the same experience that made me endure whenever things got tough in my clinical years. I moved beyond thinking about “people who pushed me into Medicine” to thinking about the possibilities that lay ahead. From my fourth year in college, I started thinking of what sort of career I wanted to carve out of the same medicine that kept making my life tough from time to time. Those of you who are in the medical profession know that it is not an easy decision to make but I still look forward to having a good one (someone sent me a message wishing me a wonderful career on Wednesday; that was on point).
While all I have written may sound like academic life was the only thing that was on offer at COM, the perfect opposite of it is true. The College of Medicine has more to it than just the school and I must say it was great to participate in the social and spiritual events. I remember losing my voice to cheering at sports events and dancing till around 2 am in a mid week party at some point. There were times that I could be in the TV lounge around 3 am with the likes of Dr Dennis Solomon, watching the Portland Trailblazers battling out with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA playoffs. Then there were those Fridays that I could secretly have one or two before silently going to sleep towards the end of my training. College can be fun, socially and the only thing I regret was not being able to participate in the hot social weekends at the Polytechnic or Chancellor College. I have nothing to comment on when issues surrounding those come up in my circles. Komabe nzabhobho.

The development of my understanding of spiritual life is another thing I look back and cherish about my college days. I went back to the college a Catholic and on the way I got challenged and almost left my denomination for one church or ministry (some did) but the whole experience helped me to appreciate how important a personal relationship with God is (for those who understand this sort of thing). I religiously participated in the activities of the Catholic community at the College of Medicine and later got the privilege and responsibility of leading it for a year or so and that gave me a feel of the practical side of leadership. Away from the Catholic community, I also got to participate in the gatherings of the Youth Inspiration Movement. That was another great experience.

I did not get to participate in front line college politics by way of contesting for some sort of office in the students union. Needless to say, I had my own contribution to college politics by being a commissioner of the electoral commission for an amazing two times (very rewarding job, this one). I did not date on campus, but it was when I was in college that I got to get my experience with dating. I made a lot of friends, both young and old and I look forward to maintaining these relationships for the benefit of all.

When I look at what I have been through in college, I thank God for every moment there spent. I also thank everyone who was part of the experience in academic, social and spiritual circles. There were a lot of opportunities created and a lot of lessons learnt and that was great.

The most important lesson that I have learnt over the years is that it is not about what program you study or which college you go to, but rather the vision you have towards what you are doing. I am working on carving my career now, thanks to the lessons. I have also learnt that there is more to college than just the academic work.
Talking of the graduation, they made me put on a suit and a weird gown in a packed Great Hall for hours. I was greeted by an army of family and friends who had a lot of flowers and cards on the day. The heap of flowers that is lying in the corner of my bedroom is just so big and it somehow gives me an idea of how beautiful my tombstone will look if I maintain the good network I have. Zocheza, koma zoona.

PS: I am told Chikondi Sato is preparing you another great read for next week. Just a rumor.

Have a blessed weekend, everyone.