WHERE WE ARE
I am Emmanuel Omondi. The story of my life basically has four key turning points - events I believe have greatly impacted my internal and external identity; some of which will continue to do so for the rest of my life. In chronological order, my non-relationship with my father, my battle with depression and anxiety, the dissonance I habour regarding which career path to take - medicine:the opportunity of a lifetime or aviation:my love and, my walk with The Lord. They capture the seats of my emotions and feelings. They are the major threads in the tapestry of my life thus far. Tension, despair and hope are the themes.
I do not know my father. He is alive. His name is Ezekiel. I can try to remember some of the few interactions …show more content…
Maybe even mad, in both senses. Growing up, my mother and sister were the first to notice that I "like" getting gloomy. The first time I can recall feeling strange and overwhelmed with hopelessness, restlessness and fear was when I was about eleven, I believe. I felt ill. My mother took me to a local dispensary. The "doctor" must have guessed an illness and some medication to go along with it. I remember forgetting how to cough(I think I had a panic attack), I remember running helplessly in the rain, I remember running away from home after being fed up with living with my mother and ending up at my father 's house, yet weeping to and for my mother at another point, I remember desperately begging my mother not to go to school, I remember being greatly disturbed and wondering what happens to me after death and, I remember fancying jumping off our estate 's highest building. Nothing my mother tried seemed to fix the problem: doctor, pep talks, interventions with neighbours, money to go and play the PlayStation 2 at a local gaming den. By God 's grace, I made it out of that season of depression. The next time it struck was in high school; I was plagued by disappointment in myself followed by great apathy. My hygiene and grades took a steep dip. I felt I had reached rock bottom. Somehow, again, by God 's grace, I was rejuvenated and bounced back to being normal again. Once more, depression came knocking harder on my door in my first year …show more content…
That is how life works. I am writing from experience. Trust me. Since childhood, I have dreamt of no other career except for one high in the skies. My early childhood was spent living close to an airport in Kisumu. Most "family" outings consisted of us going to the airport to check out planes. Yes, planes can be checked out too ;). How they gracefully landed, taxied and took off. How the passengers embarked and disembarked them. The loading and offloading of cargo. The crew doing all the stuff that is done to a plane on ground when it is doing the turn around. My mother even managed to get my sister and I into a cockpit once (it was pre 9/11). That was really cool and the images are still etched on my mind. I got into trouble drawing jets [with remarkable accuracy and precision, if I may say] in my exercise books and at the back of exam answer sheets while in primary. I made my own aeroplane models [again, with remarkable accuracy and precision]. My favourite toys were planes. They still are. I read almost all about aviation by age ten. I went to high school and did aviation technology as an elective subject. Led the class. Led the aviation club. And led the nation 's aviation technology candidates in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (2012) Examination. I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer then. Those who know me at this point in the aviation story normally question why I am in medical school. But, towards the
I am Emmanuel Omondi. The story of my life basically has four key turning points - events I believe have greatly impacted my internal and external identity; some of which will continue to do so for the rest of my life. In chronological order, my non-relationship with my father, my battle with depression and anxiety, the dissonance I habour regarding which career path to take - medicine:the opportunity of a lifetime or aviation:my love and, my walk with The Lord. They capture the seats of my emotions and feelings. They are the major threads in the tapestry of my life thus far. Tension, despair and hope are the themes.
I do not know my father. He is alive. His name is Ezekiel. I can try to remember some of the few interactions …show more content…
Maybe even mad, in both senses. Growing up, my mother and sister were the first to notice that I "like" getting gloomy. The first time I can recall feeling strange and overwhelmed with hopelessness, restlessness and fear was when I was about eleven, I believe. I felt ill. My mother took me to a local dispensary. The "doctor" must have guessed an illness and some medication to go along with it. I remember forgetting how to cough(I think I had a panic attack), I remember running helplessly in the rain, I remember running away from home after being fed up with living with my mother and ending up at my father 's house, yet weeping to and for my mother at another point, I remember desperately begging my mother not to go to school, I remember being greatly disturbed and wondering what happens to me after death and, I remember fancying jumping off our estate 's highest building. Nothing my mother tried seemed to fix the problem: doctor, pep talks, interventions with neighbours, money to go and play the PlayStation 2 at a local gaming den. By God 's grace, I made it out of that season of depression. The next time it struck was in high school; I was plagued by disappointment in myself followed by great apathy. My hygiene and grades took a steep dip. I felt I had reached rock bottom. Somehow, again, by God 's grace, I was rejuvenated and bounced back to being normal again. Once more, depression came knocking harder on my door in my first year …show more content…
That is how life works. I am writing from experience. Trust me. Since childhood, I have dreamt of no other career except for one high in the skies. My early childhood was spent living close to an airport in Kisumu. Most "family" outings consisted of us going to the airport to check out planes. Yes, planes can be checked out too ;). How they gracefully landed, taxied and took off. How the passengers embarked and disembarked them. The loading and offloading of cargo. The crew doing all the stuff that is done to a plane on ground when it is doing the turn around. My mother even managed to get my sister and I into a cockpit once (it was pre 9/11). That was really cool and the images are still etched on my mind. I got into trouble drawing jets [with remarkable accuracy and precision, if I may say] in my exercise books and at the back of exam answer sheets while in primary. I made my own aeroplane models [again, with remarkable accuracy and precision]. My favourite toys were planes. They still are. I read almost all about aviation by age ten. I went to high school and did aviation technology as an elective subject. Led the class. Led the aviation club. And led the nation 's aviation technology candidates in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (2012) Examination. I wanted to be an aeronautical engineer then. Those who know me at this point in the aviation story normally question why I am in medical school. But, towards the