Head Girl: Marie Odhiambo OW 2016

Marie Odhiambo here, Head Girl 2015-16 and I’m so excited to be a part of this lovely project.

It’s mind-boggling to think that it’s already been over seven years since leaving King Edward’s! It felt like just yesterday that I was excitedly going to post-chapel brunch on Sundays with my friends, or staying up late in Elizabeth House (the best house) swapping stories after leaving the accy in the evening. But at the same time, a lot has happened since then.

By the time I left King Edward’s in the summer of 2016, I was headed for a gap year with plans to volunteer abroad in Mexico before pursuing an education in pre-med and subsequently medicine in Canada. That all changed when I got to the University of Toronto, fell in love with Psychology instead, and turned that whole plan on its head. I switched my degree to Psychology and Sociology and graduated in 2021 with the desire to work towards being able to practise Clinical Psychology. Since then, I’ve moved back home to Kenya, something that I’m so grateful for since I’m able to constantly live near my family for the first time since moving to King Edward’s.

It’s been quite the journey settling back into Kenya, but in the few years that I’ve been back things have really fallen into place. I’m over halfway through my MA in Clinical Psychology and I’m working with a mental health NGO here in Nairobi that is making really phenomenal moves in the psychology space in Africa. Quite the change from what I thought I’d be doing when I was leaving KESW, but it definitely feels like I’ve found the right path for myself!