Let’s inspire students to pursue writing careers

I laud Anthony Mbithi for his article ‘Students should hone their writing skills’ on ‘Reader’s Corner’ on March 4, 2023.

His argument is full of inspiration and encouragement towards future authors.

Indeed, writing needs fervent practice coupled with persistence and passion. Like other disciplines, education stakeholders should burn their overnight oil to clear the path of writing among the youth.

It’s really discouraging when I ask students in the class to mention what they would like to be in future, they mention science careers: engineering, piloting, medicine etc without any mention of writing. Like other competitive careers, one can make a decent living out of writing. Journalism, book authoring and freelance writing have transformed the lives of many.

Like Mbithi, I didn’t know my talent until I responded to an article on ‘Reader’s Corner’. The same was published and I shared it with my colleagues who encouraged me to continue writing.

Two of my bosses have encouraged me in this endeavour. Kitum High School's principal gave me a laptop to develop my writing while my current principal took to social media to encourage me.

Writing landed me a job in one of the mainstream media houses and a county communication officer position before going into teaching.

In school, I usually identify writing as one of the possible careers students can pursue in future. I also encourage them to interact with superior minds like Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o to hone their writing skills.

Kimtai Cherongis is a teacher of English at Kimwondo Secondary School and an author.