Graduation: The Biggest Plot Twist

The first day of school…

A small child.
A small bag.
A big dream.

Walking beside a mother who believed this place would change everything.

At the school gate, there was always that one person who looked at you and smiled:

“Yooo ko uyatangiye ukiri gato..?”

Because you were too small.
Too young.
Too innocent.

But you entered anyway.

You sat down.
You opened your books.
You started learning.

And slowly…

Primary One became Primary Two.
Primary Two became Primary Three.
Primary Three became Primary Four.

Then came those words:

“Urayajyanye” , “Kuyarangije ukiri gato"

A sentences we heard so many times.

So we continued.

Primary Six came.

The national exam came.

We passed.

And we celebrated like we had already conquered the world.

We entered a new building.
A new level.
A new chapter.

Senior One.
Senior Two.
Senior Three.

Then another exam came.

Another victory.

And we started believing the story even more.

Because teachers kept telling us:

“Study hard and you will become a doctor.”
“Study hard and you will become a pilot.”
“Study hard and you will become someone important.”

Doctor. Pilot. Engineer.

Success.

They painted a beautiful picture in our minds.

And we believed it.

But later, we discovered something funny…

The people teaching us that road
were also walking on the same road.

They studied too.
They struggled too.
They were also trying to figure life out.

Maybe that was the first little scam.

Then came Senior Four.

We heard another beautiful story:

“Our former students are abroad.”
“They went to America.”
“They joined big universities.”
“They reached places like Harvard and MIT.”

And we looked at each other like:

“After graduation, that will be us.”

We imagined airports.
New countries.
Big opportunities.

We imagined life waiting for us.

Then Senior Five came.

Then Senior Six.

And finally…

Graduation.

The day we waited for years.

The gown.

The pictures.

The smiles.

The celebrations.

For a moment, it felt like we had millions of dollars in our accounts.

Like we had already won.

Like life was finally starting.

We thought:

“After this, I will get a job.”
“I will buy my first car.”
“I will make my parents proud.”
“I will buy them gifts.”
“I will finally live.”

We even imagined weekends full of parties in Kigali.

Because somewhere in our minds…

We thought there was a job outside waiting with our name on it.

Another scam.

Then reality arrived.

One week at home.

Two weeks.

One month.

Silence.

No phone calls.

No job offers.

No magical opportunity.

Just you…

and your thoughts.

Then you start searching.

You open applications.

You send CVs.

And then you see the sentence that destroys every fresh graduate:

“Experience required.”

Experience?

Bro…

We just finished school.

Where were we supposed to get years of experience?

Another scam.

And slowly, we learn the truth.

Outside school, life is different.

Hard work matters.

Talent matters.

But nowadays…

The first door many people look for is not only knowledge.

It is connection.

Who knows you?

Who can recommend you?

Who can open a door for you?

Then comes experience.

Because the world asks for experience from people who are just starting.

And without those things…

You feel stuck.

You feel like everyone moved forward while you are still standing.

Then you look around.

The classmates who were supposed to go abroad…

Most of them are still here.

The people who were supposed to become millionaires…

They are also figuring life out.

Some found opportunities.

Some joined the University of Rwanda.

Some joined AUCA, Kepler, UK, Ines, UNILAK ……..

Some replaced their housemaid <damnnnnnn>

But everyone is fighting their own battle.

And maybe that is the biggest lesson.

Graduation was never the finish line.

School gave us knowledge.

But life gives us reality.

The biggest scam was not school.

The biggest scam was believing that the moment we removed the uniform…

Life would become easy.

Growing up is realizing:

The certificate is not the destination.

It is just the first page of a book we are still writing.