• A group of college graduates recently celebrated their hard-earned success in a powerful ceremony where second chances transformed lives
• From Lydia’s journey to becoming a certified healthcare assistant to Brian’s rise from a boda boda rider to an emergency medical technician, the graduates embodied hope
• They shared their stories of overcoming adversity to inspire a brighter future and show that with determination, dreams can be realised

Nairobi — When the graduation music filled the grounds of the Kenya School of TVET, a wave of emotion swept through the audience.

For many Medprime Training College graduates, this was not just a ceremony, it was redemption, renewal, and proof that life can offer second chances. Among the cheering crowds were students whose journeys to this moment had been anything but straightforward.

They were young men and women who once believed education had slipped out of reach, blocked by financial struggles and personal setbacks that threatened to derail their futures.

Lydia’s dream career reawakened Lydia, for instance, finished secondary school years ago but watched her dream of joining the medical field fade as her family struggled to raise fees.

For three years, she worked odd jobs, cleaning homes, selling second-hand clothes while quietly carrying a hope she could not afford. She told TUKO.co.ke that everything changed when she learnt that a well-wisher at the institution was willing to help subsidise her course.

“I applied immediately,” she said, eyes shining beneath her graduation cap. “For the first time, I felt like my dream was possible again.”

Lydia was emotional when she graduated as a certified healthcare assistant, with a hospital placement already lined up

Former boda boda rider graduates

Stories like Lydia’s echoed across the ceremony grounds, as Brian, a former boda boda rider, had a similar testimony. Brian had spent years juggling long days on the road with the pressure to support his younger siblings, but an accident immobilised him, forcing him to rethink everything.

“I thought that was the end,” he recalled, fighting back tears. “But I was given a path I never saw coming.”

Now a trained emergency medical technician, Brian stood tall in his gown, overwhelmed by a sense of purpose he never imagined.

Graduates lift their hands in the air during the ceremony. Photo: Medprime Training College.

Power of second chances

Lydia, Brian, and several other graduates embody the power of second chances as many came in uncertain, battling self-doubt, or carrying the weight of past failures. But they rebuilt their skills and confidence.

Parents and guardians watched with pride as their children crossed the stage. Some shed tears; others hugged so tightly it was clear how much had gone into reaching this moment.

For these families, the certificates symbolised more than academic achievement. They represented sacrifices made, hopes restored, and futures reclaimed. For graduates like Lydia and Brian, the ceremony marked not an ending but a beginning and doorway into meaningful work.

They look at the possibility of transforming not only their own lives, but the lives of patients they will soon care for.