I graduated, Like a Boss!

I graduated. For the larger part of August and september, I only thought it would be a dream. And i must say I enjoyed it.

I had promised myself that I would only graduate on the condition I had made a fraction of what my lecturers earn otherwise the event meant nothing. You see, I am motivated by money and the more I make, the better i feel about myself. I can do without money, i just use it as a measure of whether I am on the right track or not and on my graduation day, I bought my parents lunch which amounted to 200,000/- and still had 1,500,000 cash in my pocket. My dad was quite impressed, "Today I certainly have a reason to eat. My son has graduated and he is the one picking up the tab."

Perhaps the coolest part about it was my gown arrived 10 minutes before they read my name, hell I want even sure if Gloria was going to bring it for me (I was so busy the night before and the morning working on the projector screens that I hadn't actually bought one.)

Like fate would have it, Gloria showed up just in time, my class mates had already lined up to walk down the red carpet. I ran to the ambulance which was a few meters away, changed quickly and went to the queue. I remember my mum asking me why I was the only person wearing red shoes and I told her, "Well mum, I am sure you and I have established by now that I am a huge fan of theatrics. While everyone is trying desperately to match their clothes with their shoes, I want to match mine with the carpet." - Like a boss. That's the only way I know how to live. 

Graduation to me meant that, in a way, i had figured out a few things about life on my own and was proud of that. I had something to celebrate. The journey has just began but im optimistic.

Keep you posted

The weekend comes on an end. F%$@!

In exactly one hour and twenty minutes the weekend will have come to an end. By then ill probably be in my bed thinking of what I need to do this coming week. setting deadlines for myself. I’m sure am not the only person who does a self evaluation on Sundays.
In Primary school, I hated Sunday nights with the passion because I was scared of the week starting. There always seemed to be something wrong with Mondays. Sunday nights came when I was either not done with homework or my shirt missing from the wire.

On the other hand Sunday comes with hope that we will do better in areas in our lives we did not do as expected in the week that has come to an end. Right now the week looks pretty busy for me. I have been meaning to update my CV to send it out to a couple of agencies. For now it might be the safest option to play. Its hard to strike a balance between doing what we love and doing what we can to survive. In case employment works out, I plan to stay for a bit then get back on the horse as soon as possible.

Nice week

Bad week, “If opportunity does not knock, build a door” - Dad

I have not updated this blog in a while. I suppose alot has been going on that I did not know where to start. So far my Job search is so and so. I have a few good opportunities looking up but that’s as far at it goes.

When the week began I was feeling so low that I possibly could not imagine myself achieving some of the things I had set out to do from the beginning, like Making a great movie, shooting an advert, writing an inspirational book and the list goes on. However the negative energy vanished out of the window when I had a chat with my dad over a cup of coffee midweek. At the time I was contemplating on not attending my graduation but I received troubling news that an exam paper I sat for went missing. Its one thing for it to be up to me not to graduate but its another when I am told I can not. My Dad wrote a quote on a piece of paper like he always does and it read, “If opportunity does not knock, build a door.”

It changed the way I was looking at things and his statement added a bit of fuel to a tank that was running empty. For the past couple of days I have tried to keep myself occupied with art and that has kept me going. The going isn’t any easier and I do not expect it to be. I am willing to fight to see some of my ideas turn into reality

"Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." - Steve Jobs

Making the most out of life (Pork in Wandegeya)

My house mate Eric was fired over the week. I decided it was important for us to do something fun, that we could also film.

I’m Happy for now

A week seems like a long time ago when I posted my last blog. Maybe its been a series of events that have happened so fast at once. The greatest news I received today came from my uncle who got me in touch with a prospective advertiser for my blank billboard. the deal is possibly worth a lot if He can get me clients who are willing to pay a years subscription. In case this happens, I will be earning my first check worth 8 figures (In Uganda shillings.) And the USP project is going to be done in the morning. If I stay up late I can tie up the loose ends. I have discovered something. Being creative and smart sometimes are the reason we do not see the simple elements in life that seem to hinder us from living out our dreams. Some are pessimist, some look at the world with a narrow perspective and like for me; Getting too attached to my work Joel, A creative strategist at The republican summed this up really well. “In the creative world, you will expect criticism from people who do not think your idea is good enough. Take heart and move on.” even though our words were not the same, the principal still stands out. Because I spend hours imagining things and writing them down. It gets hard to purse a project with a more objective mind. but this costs be time, energy and consequently I don't hit deadlines which is very important work. the reason freelancers are higher most of the time it is because the staff can not get the work on time. With this principal intend to complete this project and receive the criticism later. but it should get me a step closer to my dreams. The funny thing about work is one job will land you another if you are deliberate and consistent. And the other reason I am happy is because I have gotten the number of this famous person, that I have been searching for, for a week. Today I finally picked up my phone and called a girl I dated back in high school, and what do you know, she apparently knows the daughter! It was a cruel taste of fate and it tasted bitter. How I am glad I actually had a conversation with her. I found out she has a few ideas of her own she would like to implemented when she gets back from India in November. she also got a lucrative offer from a modeling agency. Here I should say, I love pretty girls, I cant help it. So the deal is worth quite a bit and even through she did not specify what kind of modeling but Id like to believe she’s going to be doing something decent. To sign off this blog I am going to say “Welcome Back Tendo.” Him and I go back as far back as Fighting in Nursery school. We grew up and I came to Uganda and now he has finally come back home. I could tell when I called to day he needs to be sorting out few issues in his life, like I am. Him and I thought pretty much the same. Glad to have my partner in crime back. If everything works well, we should be renting a fairly decent place in the suburb while we figure the rest out. So I’m looking forward to that. The picture below is of the who of us in the kitchen with my mum, learning how to bake cookie.

Walking away

So I have been out of school for two weeks now. It’s coming to the end of September (Thank God!) honestly when I wrote my last blog, I could not predict where I was going to be at the end of the month. my parents and I fell out after four hours of the most embarrassing lecture. It started with Steven who sent my parents an implicating email which my dad responded to in the strongest terms. Maybe I deserved it. which is why I do not blame him or my mum. So two weeks ago I was officially asked to leave home and figure the rest out on my own. it was very terrifying at first but two weeks down the road I’m quite proud of myself for figuring it out so far. I’m currently staying with a friend Eric. Its working out okay but I need a place of my own very soon. In my wallet currently I posses 5,000/= which I hope to use to finalize a project here in Mukono. For the past two days I have been taking some shots of Hamu Mukasa Library which Mike wants to enter into an Architectural competition. I am also in a rush to complete the USP project which is long overdue. If my math works is remotely accurate, I just might have enough saved up from the two projects to pay for a place of my own! I am kind of nervous actually. I mean my whole life is dependant on whether I get paid or not. In fact if I do not get any payment for my work today, I might not have transport to take me back to Kampala. Coming back to Mukono has made me realize how small UCU is for a person like me who has lots of crazy dreams and ambition. I have decided not to pursue any other project with UCU. It’s been a great time, from setting up a campus run podcast (CTV) to this. it has become my comfort zone and I fear if I continue working with it, I might never get to where I want. I am listening to We are young - FUN. And I somehow know everything is going to be alright. Today I walk away from the biggest deal of my life (so far) because I have done it all before. I need to go out into the world and conquer. I hope everything works out. it has to. Thanks Jackie for your text yesterday, “Real men face the world.” It has made me realize what I have to do. I’ll keep all of you posted

A new Chapter in life (Scary)

The first time I set foot in class was 16 years ago in a village school 90 Miles South West of Uganda. I remember the graceful Nursery teacher who struggled to introduce us to the world of education. Back then it made sense; go to school, study a noble profession like medicine, get a good job and buy a nice house. From as far back as third grade we started making plans on who we wanted to become. Most of us had high expectations like being an astrologist. Which was good because it gave us something to live for and even though now we are realizing that some of those ambitions were naïve, it certainly was beautiful to dream without limiting ourselves to what was actually possible Looking back at the past three years, I have been able to publish a magazine, have my Documentary air on a local television station for a month and I have made some pretty awesome friends. As I come to the conclusion of my educational journey, I look back on the experiences I have gone through and I am grateful for each one of them because they have groomed me into a tougher person. And even though I have not gotten there yet, I feel I have a clearer direction of where my life should be headed. Some people right from the start know who or what they want to be, but for some of us it takes years of searching before we finally figure out what we want out of life. I encourage everyone who still hasn’t found their passion, to keep looking and do not settle until you have. Because the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you love and it all starts with a dream. It’s amazing how some of our wildest dreams can come true when we start to believe that we can achieve. A week before my A- Level finals, I found myself in the headmasters office, making my first business pitch. I was requesting him to grant me the tender to design their first school magazine. An hour before going into his office I thought to myself, “I must be mad to even think for a moment a student like me, barely out of high school could be entrusted with the responsibility of publishing a magazine.” At the time I couldn’t even design a Christmas card! During the meeting I tried to remember all the professional advice I had been given by my friends. It was perhaps the longest meeting of my life. An hour later I was out of his office, with the deal and barely able to contain my excitement. Three months later work commenced. My other two friends and I decided to give it our best shot. I spent hours reading magazines from other schools, downloading Photoshop tutorials off the internet and developing the plan along the way. No one seemed to mind I was figuring out some of the stuff along the way. They were happy as long as they saw me busy in the small unused classroom which had become our office. Not everything was fun and there were days we had serious doubts about the project and our abilities and one night we even contemplated packing our things and sneaking out through the back because of fear of failure. But I am glad we stuck through it because it was through that project that I decided to apply to UCU to study mass communication and looking back now I have no regret. When it was finally complete, everything we had gone through seemed to make sense. The frustration was made up by the good work we were proud of. When I held the first copy in my hand, it all made sense. The trials, uncertainty, highs and lows. I started to understand the satisfaction derived from doing what I loved which in my case is Videography and photography. And for the past three years I have been at campus, I have tried to get better at what I do because I now realize the need to be different from all the other people who think having a camera makes one a good photographer by doing good work. When I was asked to write about a dynamic character, I felt highly unqualified to dwell on such subject matter and as a result this is around my 12th draft. And I would have continued counting if I hadn’t stopped and just taken the shot because sometimes all it takes is you taking the shot. The greatest lesson I have leant in life is never to be afraid of committing mistakes because it’s part of the learning process. Getting over the fear of failure allows us to experiment and try new things. In my line of work; arts, it can be devastating when we get it wrong and perhaps the hardest thing to do is to pick yourself up after screwing up so bad. I have learnt that mistakes are part of life and define we who we are. We should learn from them and move on. The lowest point in my career was November 2011 when my laptop was stolen. At the time I was working on the second edition of the magazine and was 99% percent done with editing a wedding I had shot a month before. Loss of the laptop sent me back to square one and for a while I didn’t know how to get myself back. It was a trying time but I am thankful for it because it was through that experience that I found what I loved to do. It allowed me to go into one of the most creative episode of my life and the pictures on this page were all taken in that time frame. So to you the reader, do not be afraid of failure, just go for it! After all you have nothing to lose. The late Steve Jobs remarked “Stay hungry, stay foolish”

Change isn't so bad

A lot has changed since I last had a post. It is finally 2012, at the time of this post the year is at least four months old. that's how long it has been since I came back to this page where I express my thoughts and feelings.
The most important lesson I have learnt in the past few months is, . I have been in a relationship and I have been learning new great things about the world. My Dad prepared me well but obviously not well enough. I guess his job ended the moment I got to university. It has been a time of formation of core values; what i believe in, my convictions about the world and making great friends with people like Babu the Drunkard and Paul the smoker who happens to be my girlfriends best friend at the moment.

My parents must have had a perfect plan laid out for me before i packed my bags three years ago. but i guess they too are shocked at how much I have changed as a person, In a positive way and also in a questionable way, depending on how you look at it.

I'm in Love. something i thought i would never say especially not here. when i read my last post , i certainly see a difference in myself. I have a new passion now that does not involve pissing off someone. life is different.

I'm realizing Uganda is one ideal village. where Bad Blacks appearance in court is news worthy and people seem to still care about tribes and heritage.

a final word about University, it has been great. the highs and the lows, all the way. I'm going to miss walking to the sausage stand at midnight for a snack. I'm looking ahead, i guess change is not bad. I can not wait to write the next chapter of my life. And as always ill keep you posted here, on awalktothekiosk. I named it so because its the easiest way to describe the African experience.