My name is Stanley Ngethe. I currently work as a health and safety associate for a waste management company called NICI Universal Enterprises. I joined Thorn Tree Primary School in the year 1996 and enrolled in Class 1. My experience initially was like that of any new student at first, I was excited and anxious at the same time. However, after I got to settle in and make friends with the other students I became more comfortable. The former director, the late Mrs. Kashonga, had a major impact in our lives as students and I will always remember her standing in the main hallway at the end of the day as we were preparing to board the school buses. She would call a group of us randomly and ask us our names, which class were and what we had learnt. She was like a grandmother figure to many of us and she made us feel that we were like a family even though we came from different households.

My favorite teachers were Mr. Atulo, who taught me Science, and Mr. Wambua, who taught me G.H.C, currently known as social studies. Now you have an idea of how old I am just by mentioning those subjects. They fostered a passion for sciences and the environment and this eventually led me to undertake a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science.

Apart from academics, Thorn Tree made me love to play football with my former classmates and I remember many times the bell would ring for us to go back to class after break. We would still be in the field trying to score that final goal, of which if you did score you would have bragging rights for the whole week. You would be Ronaldo, number 9 mgongoni! Again you can see how old I am.

For me, Thorn Tree was not just a school, it was a community that gave me a firm start towards the person I am still developing to be today. It gave me role models from the director to the teaching and non-teaching staff. It gave me friends who am still close to even today. It will forever be a part of my life that I will look back on and be grateful. If I am ever blessed to have children, I will be more than happy to have them attend and be part of, not just a school, but the memorable experience of Growing to Success as mentioned in Thorn Tree Primary School motto