We are all familiar with the old coined adage, every cloud has a silver lining. Well then, was the case for one Jeremy Morara Michoma who captured the attention of World Class universities across the United States and Canada.
It was all a befitting end to the hard work, the real shift of academic prowess and strength that he put in during the global pandemic. When the times got tough, the astute boy resolved to use his time well and get further refined knowledge. It has all paid off!
Jeremy Morara was born on the 11th of November 2003. He went to Strathmore Primary School in Nairobi whereby he completed his Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2016. He scored exemplary marks that earned him a call-up to the Alliance High School in Kiambu County.
With Alliance being a boarding Secondary School, Jeremy opted to be a day scholar instead. He passed the chance to Alliance and joined Strathmore Secondary School in Nairobi in 2017. He undertook his studies at the school and was well on course to complete his secondary education in November 2020.
However, misfortune struck the world that year with many countries closing boundaries and enforcing lockdown protocols with the emergence of 2020 pandemic. Â Kenya fell short of grace and reported the first case in February 2020, after which every normal day’s operations turned dull.
The Ministry of Education deemed all schools and tertiary institutions country-wide inapt for studies, leading to their closure.
With many across the world having lots of time to spare, most spending it on the internet, Jeremy was quick to enroll in an International Baccalaureate program upon realizing that the studies were online.
Jeremy used his lock down period studying an International Baccalaureate program at the Aga Khan Academy in Mombasa.
The Aga Khan Academy became an IB World School on 12th November 1999. During those uncertain 2020 Covid-19 times, it was unclear when schools would eventually reopen.
However, the government through the Ministry of Education commissioned the reopening of schools to KCPE and KCSE candidates across the country for physical learning in early October 2020.
Jeremy found himself undertaking two very rigorous programs, one at Strathmore School and the other at the Agakhan Academy. The Strathmore Secondary School principal, Mr. Muthiora, gave him blessings to physically move to the Aga Khan Academy and keep pursuing his IB Diploma.
The deal was that he would organize for Jeremy to get daily briefs from his Strathmore teachers on the daily content done and assignments given.
This was a measure implemented to see that Jeremy didn’t fall back on his High School studies with the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams just around the corner in early 2021.
On the other hand, the Aga Khan Academy welcomed him with wide open arms to study for his IB Diploma. They promised him a 3-weeks-time allowance to return to Strathmore Secondary School to sit for his KCSE exams.
Jeremy Morara, in the midst of it all, found himself with a lot of studies to do. As if that was not enough, while undertaking the two programs, Jeremy had the honors of representing our motherland, Kenya at the World Mathematics Olympiad in Saint Petersburg Russia. In addition to all this incredible accomplishments, Jeremy also managed to participate in International Chess Touranments.
For many, this would have been an immense work load with different priorities on the table, some vital questions at hand being, ‘Where will I get the time?’. But this wasn’t the case for clever Jeremy Morara.
He took up the challenges at hand with a lot of humility and bravery. He followed his program with military precision to the end, when he was sat for his KCSE exams and IB Diploma respectively.
Despite being out of his Strathmore Secondary School class, Jeremy topped his class, Form 4A, in the KCSE Exams at the age of 17 years old, scoring an impressive 80/84 points. He then went on to complete his IB Diploma.
For his International Baccalaureate program at Agakhan, Jeremy Morara got 43/45 points. 
Jeremy’s Aga Khan Academy Award of Excellence for his sharp-witted perfomances. He got the most coveted award at the Aga Khan Academy for the year 2022.
Jeremy applied to 12 foreign world-class universities, out of which he was able to gunner admission offers to 9 universities. Six universities in the United States and three universities in Canada.
Of the six U.S universities that he got admission to, Jeremy was spoilt for Ivy League university choices which totaled to 4, namely Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth University and Brown University. The other 2, top universities he got accepted to are the California Institute of Technology (Caltech University) and the University of Bolton.
In all 3 Canadian Universities he applied to he got admission offers namely, the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto and Yoke University in Ontario.
This article began with a proverbial cue, every cloud has a silver lining. Jeremy programmed his 24-hour day as if it were a 48-hour day and now he’s reaping the fruits. He looks forward to doing much more on a bigger platform.
Jeremy is currently proceeding to join Ivy League Institution, Princeton University in New Jersey to study a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering on merits of a scholarship. He has certainly set an inspirational example that all can be achieved with due diligence. The future looks bright for him!
