Head of School Jinx

The office of head of school in Lenana in those days was akin to what the Kenyan presidency has always been. It attracted numerous candidates as well as pretenders to the throne, was shrouded in mystery and was an extremely powerful office for a mere student. Indeed the head of school had his own office up school although in my time it was barely furnished. Still it was on office up school which most teachers didn’t even have.

But what happens to Lenana heads of school after they leave? My careful analysis of numerous holders of the coveted office from the 70s is that they ride out into the sunset and oblivion. Whatever they end up doing, they mostly become underachievers in life. I am NOT saying that they end up failures but their achievements in later years hardly manage to live up to the larger than life office they held in their last year of school Why is this??? Why manage to achieve so much and then fade away or achieve much less in the real world? This is a mystery I have never managed to solve. In discussions with old boys of the school I have called this phenomenon “the head of school jinx.” For you to overcome a jinx you need to recognize its’ presence first. I suspect that most who have held this office will bear me out if they ever decide to open up and be candid enough about their own experiences.

The first head of school I saw was Ken Sagala in 1978. He had the unenviable task of breaking in a new headmaster which I believe he handled rather well under extremely difficult circumstances. I do not know what the issues were in 1977 leading up to his appointment but I could see in 1978 he must have had plenty of competition breathing down his neck and that says plenty about the man and what he achieved.

I had the privilege of playing rugby with Ken Sagala briefly in later years and pinched myself to fully come to the realization that I was playing the game with my former head of school.

Traditionally at the end of the year the head boy received the Old Yorkist Shield for achievement. Getting to head  of school is not easy and this is something that is fully deserved by any holder of the office as we shall see later in these Facebook memoirs. However once in a while another student surpasses these achievements and ends up getting the award and the head of school has to make do with an alternative headmaster’s award. 1978 was one such year. Edward Bisamunyu got the shield for achievement for his amazing and unprecedented work with the school choir in a year where as a student he filled in for a music teacher the school did not have.

It is also fascinating to note that many of those who failed to make it to head of school were devastated. Many recovered and used this disappointment to spur themselves to great achievements in the real world outside school where it really matters. Sadly others never recovered. And that is why this is one of the sections I am writing with lots of sensitivity and care. There is no denying that some of these wounds remain for decades and even lifetimes.