Why you can consider joining NYS in your "gap year"

President Uhuru Kenyatta greets National Youth Service recruits after a parade at the NYS college in Gilgil on September 10, 2014.Photo, courtesy

After watching 'Boy Meets World', a television series that chronicles the life of friends from middle school days to their marriage life, one thing kept ringing in my mind is how most men make mistakes in the gap between completion of high school and the "start of life" as most people call the transition.
In the current set up, once a young man aged 17 or 18 completes high school, there is always gap of about one year before they can join college or college or university.
With so much time on your hands, some try the few things they were always warned against.
There others who form groups with their peers and spend days roaming in the neighbourhood and, eventually, try a few things like drugs and alcohol.
Others take opportunity to try relationships with the opposite sex as this was banned while in school.
But you know what, there are better things you can try after completing high school.
Gone are the days of carefree socializing with friends. Now you need to decide that early what you are going to do the rest of your life, and that is no small decision to make. While lots of teens see high school as a chore, something to get through and leave behind, the reality is that high school is the last frontier to cross before the responsibilities of adulthood.
You might think of volunteering.
It has always been nice to give back to the society and this is always welcome. Sad to say but of late been Kenya as been on attack by the Al Shabaab and other criminals. In such and other calamities, youths can give a helping hand.
You gain valuable skills and meet new contacts who can help in future.  Other volunteer opportunities would include tutoring and mentoring kids, building homes, or responding to disasters like floods.

Apprentice
Few young people even know the meaning of the word 'apprenticeship', let alone the work of an apprentice. This is because they believe in white-collar job and do not do hard labour.
An apprenticeship might be a great option for those interested in receiving supervised work experience, a classroom education, and a paycheck.  An apprentice works with an experienced worker to learn a skilled trade like carpentry or plumbing.  The apprentice receives training both on the job and in the classroom.

Untrained interns
With the current job shortage in Kenya, i'm sure everyone wants to get some skill in almost all departments. When one completes high school, its just right to have some small training in the employment industry. For instance, one can take up a job as an intern - obviously without pay in most companies - in a processing industry or even become a peer teacher or tutor, a role I see more young people taking up nowadays.

Tours and trips
This is for the few from families that can afford a holiday for their children. Very few people  even have time to tour and travel to different places especially in Kenya, because of a busy cycle in life. It is wise to spend your parents' money in this kind of way. Spend such holidays in Kenya because its now important to know different cultures in the country.

Join the NYS
This is one initiative the government is trying to revive by increasing the number of recruits. Given a second chance, I would join the NYS because I wouldn't mind getting free para-military  training and also a training in any speciality I desire. Very few youths know the value of this important unit in our country because after the training no NYS personnel has been recognised for their skill, while most of our fathers started their adult life from the NYS.