Many years ago when I was young, a relative came home with a
coconut. The fruit was shared at dinner and
I remember the buzz of excitement from adults and children alike as the rough,
dry skin split open to reveal the vibrant fruit beneath. The grown-ups then
started a lengthy discussion of the practically infinite ways in which the
coconut could be used. One use I vividly remember was that its fiber could be
used to make sofa sets. It set my mind in motion and I desired to learn more. Of
course, being a kid, I could only listen attentively as the grownups engaged in
this very lively conversation in spite of the fact that my thirst for knowledge
was even greater than my thirst for the sweet coconut milk itself.
This talk inspired a peculiar dream. In it, I had a piece of
that magic coconut, and starting from practically nothing, I made very many
things. Practically anything you can imagine. It was one of those dreams, which
seems without beginning or end, one where you feel you have lived your entire
life in the dream. And you have struggled and have been overcome and have
overcome and finally you have died and you have been victorious. And you are
still dreaming.
Did I believe this to be a real prediction of my future? In
fact, I once experienced a dream, which happened the next day exactly the way I
dreamt it. But no, I don’t believe in dreams and would never advise anyone to
take them seriously because they could potentially disrupt your life, and make you
paranoid. Instead, I think that sometimes dreams can represent innate desires
which can become motives even without our knowledge and spring into existence
like a zombie emerging from nowhere in a horror movie. My principle is to just
live life the way it comes and try my best.
Fast forward two decades, I’d graduated with a Bachelor’s
Degree in Food Science and Technology and was placed at the School of Food
Technology to work as a graduate assistant helping with research and product
development. I found myself having to do some pretty repetitive tasks and I realized
that if I am really to get the kind of results I want with a guarantee that
they are the best anyone can get, then I would have to learn how to write
computer programs. Ask the computer to
run them for me, and get my results in the morning. Then go perform two or
three tests in the lab and BAM, here comes my new PRODUCT.
Without wasting time, and since I knew that all somebody
needs to learn how to program is a computer and internet connection, I dove
right into the heart of Java. Java, however, decided I was not a good enough
opponent and gave me a bloody nose, but still I learnt something.
I then found a friendlier Visual Basic and given the user
input provided by excel, I soon find myself singing as I wrote code. In fact, I
got so lost coding that one day, upon leaving my chair to do a small errand, I
came back to find my chair removed in my absence. Without realizing I was
standing, I dived straight back into the heart of code, until the person who
had pulled my chair actually realized I was standing. Knowing the limitations
of Visual Basic, I decided to learn to Python; particularly because I developed
interest in natural language and its processing. And every day I spent time
thinking about structures; about how to do things, and finding out how to
possibly implement the structures I was imagining.
One particular task I set out to do that really frustrated me
was how to implement a super quick dictionary. Actually, I borrowed the idea
from a movie. I imagined this super
structure and then surfed about it. What I found kept me busy for three entire
weeks without my ever coming up with the best style of implementing it. This
was partly because I could only learn and write code at night given that I had
to work during the day. The elusive knowledge I craved was out of my reach and
I experienced the same frustration I felt when I desired to learn more about
that coconut so many years ago. Then I just made this decision, the one
decision I had never imagined I would take two years earlier on my
graduation. I resolved to study.
I wrote to a mentor telling him that I was simply better off
studying computer science rather than just lone programming because working was
simply not giving me enough prime time to do what I really thought was of
importance to my work. Of course, I understood that there were definitely money
issues and this added to the fact that I was a food scientist was definitely
going to make it hard to find someone or an organization that would sponsor me
to pursue a degree in computer science. His initial response was:
“Man, you are just beyond
me now and I can’t help you that much. Please try some other people; maybe they
might help …”
It was perhaps unsurprising and I kind of gave up and dived
deeper into coding.
What was surprising
was that he didn’t forget my idea and
several months later I got this email from him about a university called
Carnegie Mellon University Rwanda that was having information sessions in
Kampala. I followed those quick instructions to register, phone number, email
address etc. and found myself with an interview date. Before the day arrived, I
received a call from a lady who turned out to be very calm, persistent and
consistent at calling and finding out my plans.
“Hi Stephen. I see you registered…”
I had not forgotten about the interview, but honestly
speaking what chances did I consider myself to have: none. They were offering Master’s
in Information Technology, which was what I wanted and needed to help me learn
the principles of computing and for which I had no background. So when I reached
there, I pulled this lady aside and said you know what, I don’t have a
background. Her reply was just as I expected. She didn’t think I would make it
as the university was looking for people who could write code. But she also
told me to wait and to talk to the Professor. Just maybe.
I got through the interview and to cut a long story short two
months later, I get this email: Dear Stephen you have been shortlisted and are
required to sit for GRE and TOEFL….
Of course, I was delighted but damn it! Why do these
American universities make our lives so hard? I didn’t have the money and I
couldn’t see how I was going to get it in the time frame within which they
wanted my results back. My dream was alive but just out of my reach. I kept
quiet. Work took me to field far away from where regular internet can be found.
Then one day I resurrected from “before the internet (BI) land” and found
my inbox full of emails among which is one from the persistent, consistent and
calm lady. This time round I have the money and the unbelievable happened.
Dear Stephen, I am pleased ……
Then I find myself in another
dream, seated in class, listening, and this time it is for real and I can even stop
and rewind, “excuse me Professor, did you say ...” The good side is, in
this one I am still alive.
And I continue to discover that
the coconut is not the only object with infinite possibilities.
