Kenya came 28th in the medals list in the recently concluded 2012 London Olympics. A few experts have alluded this to the bad luck associated with holding the 13th position in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Back in Kenya, a different race is held annually, where thousands of students try to make the cut for white collar jobs. See, the statistics are sobering, with an estimated labor force of about 19 million, 40 percent of these people remain unemployed. Of the 60 percent that are employed ,  75 percent are in the agricultural sector, which is looked down upon.  Of the remaining 25 percent, the jobs are divided between white collar and blue collar jobs.

The race for the few white collar jobs in Kenya is so intense that even rats have objected to it being referred to as a rat race, insisting that “human race” or even “Kenyan race” are more befitting, just in case we need to differentiate our situation with India’s.

The rat Kenyan Human Race begins early for most of inhabitants. On a few occasions, in my own bid, I have woken up at what Moses and King Kong, they of Mukibi’s Institute of the Sons of African Gentlemen claimed to be ungodly hours. In the dark hours of between 5 and 6, ideally an hour you should be leaving the club and not your house, I have found knee-sized kids from the neighbourhood been picked by school buses. You would think they are attempting to Nairobi’s crazy traffic (Sorry to burst bubbles of those outside Kenya, but very few of us can run to save our lives, and vehicles it is), but you will be shocked to learn that their schools are a javelin throw distance from their homes.

The kids, like many others around the country, are advised to study hard and get good jobs. Studying hard in the revised Kenyan dictionary means passing your national exams. See, this kids have to be among the 250,000 who make it to Secondary School out of the 750,000 who sit for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). At the same time, more than 100,000 students sat for the 2011 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education and more than 64,000 of them will miss public university places.

Initially, many dream of making the cut for prestigious courses in campus. Ask any kid of their dream job, and you will probably get doctor, lawyer, pilot, architect or an engineer. No one wants to be a teacher. I remember getting lots of advice from neighbours and friends of my parents when growing up, most of them wanted me to be a doctor. Even my teachers said I should go to a good school and become a doctor. None ever advised me to be a teacher, probably due to the many times I caught up with my beauty sleep during their lessons.

Many high school students looking to join university have no idea of what course they want to study in campus, and seek the advice of career advisors.

Career advisors will advise you of which marketable courses you need to study in campus, to get employed.

So many apply to study medicine that you need an almost perfect score to get through the regular intake for the course.

The fact that many people study medicine because it is fashionable means that if you really love medicine, you are in trouble. You have to pass with colours that fly to Mars or you have to be somehow capable of affording the self sponsored more expensive option.

One of my pals in high school studied medicine, and is now a doctor. However, he doesn’t enjoy it and regrets not following his passion in IT.

Most of you readers know Christine Nderitu, right?

Well, she wasn’t in my “privileged” School of Engineering, that school where the list of those who failed in their exams rivalled that of those who passed. She wasn’t in my class, which had more than 200 students in first day of first year and less than 100 in the graduation list. A good number of those who graduated went ahead to use their expertise in Computer Science in selling Bank loans and as bank tellers, others as auditors.

Well, Christine was in the same school as a student that more than 4,000 graduands and 8,000  attendees at one ceremony burst out laughing at . It was ridiculously funny that he was graduating in Sports and Leisure Management.

Christine wanted to pursue a degree in law, or even in interior design. To the shock of friends and relatives, Christine took a degree in Sports Science, taking after her mother who studied music and special education, and who now teaches music and choreography at a college and for groups, like churches.

When Christine revealed she was going to study Sports Science, her aunts advised her to take a more “practical” course, say music teaching. Her friends took it as a joke, and after the laughter had died down, advised her she would probably never get employed. I mean, who gets a job if all they do is jump around a field all day?

She was not one to be easily put down, after all, many of her teachers in secondary school had prophesied that she would never make it to campus, being a girl who loved fun and outdoor stuff, and one who just wanted to have fun. In high school, she had been “lucky” a few times, having had the chance to travel to Canada and Japan to present environmental essays which had been winning entries in global contests.

In campus, her course was no play. Most students spend lots of time lazing around, with only 21 hours of class in a week, including some technical courses such as Computer Science. Meanwhile, her timetable resembled that of nursing and medicine students, with little time to spare.

Sports science has lots to study. As someone who trains athletes, she has to know about all muscles in the body and how to train and work out the individual muscles. She also has to have an idea of what food is best for the athletes. Most importantly, she has to have an idea of what medication professional athletes can use, least they fail a doping test. Oh, and she has to have a pretty good idea of first aid since you will be depending on her in case of any injury out in the field.

Having completed her university course in 2010, Christine got a job a few weeks after, way ahead of her friend who had taken “marketable” courses.

Christine works in a tour firm in Nairobi. Many will be shocked to find out she has an office, and a computer. After all, she needs to plan her client’s trips, make reservations for them and know when they will be picked up.

While her clients call it a vacation, it’s all in a day’s work for her to accompany them on rock climbing trips, hikes up mount Kenya, rafting down the Sagana rapids and sailing down the Indian Ocean.

Her job is not that easy. She once was out initiating young kids on how to be men - the irony -  on a boat sailing along the Indian ocean. It is then that a stay - the wires that hold the mast to the edge of the boat - snapped, and brought down the whole sail crashing with it. This was in the middle of the ocean, but luckily, no one was injured. The boat had a petrol motor which they used to navigate back ashore.

As part of her job, Christine has been to Lenana peak, and plans to do Batian peak by January 2013.

As you guys know it, well, most of you know Christine, right? Well, you have probably seen her before. Remember the “Niko na Safaricom” advert, yes, the “Nafurahia” one with beautiful scenery shot all over Kenya? This advert? Well, if you have no idea by now, Christine is the lady(or girl) who opens up the advert, in a white dress up the mountain.

For her, it was “really nice doing the advert ,  on the mountain, with a dress”. Her hands may have been quite cold to the point of freezing, but she was quite happy about it. If you are wondering how she landed the role, she did turn up for the auditions, and having no other song in her head, sang “row, row, row your boat” as part of the auditions. Her singing was good and made the cut.

Christine later plans to master in International Tourism Management. She also have dreams to see a comic she has drawn, titled A girl and her daddy turn into an animation.

For her life isn’t about money,  it is about enjoying what you are doing. If you enjoy what you are doing, you do it well to the point other people like it. These people then tell other people about you and this leads to your growth.