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Helping Students Make<br />
Right Choices in Life<br />
By Angela Wanyiri and Brian Oyaro<br />
The mere decision to wake up every<br />
morning is a choice that we, more<br />
often than not, make unconsciously.<br />
However, to some of us, waking up early<br />
in the morning is one of the most difficult<br />
choices we have to make. Yet if you have<br />
the breath of life, you have no choice but<br />
to wake up and prepare for the business of<br />
the day. God gives each one of us 24 h<strong>our</strong>s<br />
in a day. Our only duty is to challenge<br />
<strong>our</strong>selves to make each minute count.<br />
The Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal is a Daystar<br />
students’ initiative that was started by<br />
John Brian Oyaro in 2013. It now consists<br />
of three executive members, John Brian<br />
Oyaro, Chief Executive Officer and founder,<br />
Angela Wanyiri, Chief Operations Officer<br />
and Hilda Kaguma, Chief Financial Officer.<br />
You would probably wonder why<br />
the name ‘Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal.’ A signature<br />
is a very personalized craft mastered by<br />
everyone but unique to each individual.<br />
The Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal therefore, is a very<br />
unique concept that applies to all people<br />
but still serves a distinctive meaning to<br />
every person’s life.<br />
The Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal aims to<br />
capture the positive choices made by<br />
people in all walks of life, and showcase<br />
them to Daystar University students in a<br />
bid to impact their lives positively. This is<br />
achieved through three components: The<br />
Video J<strong>our</strong>nal, The Grand Event and The<br />
Choices We Make Publication. The Video<br />
j<strong>our</strong>nal uses videos to spread the message<br />
of right choices, the Grand event, which is<br />
held thrice a year hosts public figures that<br />
have inspired the society in a significant<br />
way, and finally the publication magazine<br />
features all the events and experiences<br />
of the Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal, featuring also<br />
inspirational stories.<br />
The Grand Event: the Grand Event<br />
entails a talk-show where people who<br />
have made choices that have impacted<br />
the lives of other people in the society,<br />
in a positive manner are invited as guest<br />
speakers. The essence of this event is so<br />
that both the interviewer and interviewee<br />
can learn from each other in the c<strong>our</strong>se<br />
of the discussion. The first Grand Event<br />
which was held in March 2014 featured<br />
Mr. Johnston Mwakazi. Mr. Mwakazi talked<br />
about the choices he had to make to get to<br />
where he is today. He emphasized on the<br />
role of God in his life and the importance<br />
of values such as patience and integrity.<br />
Elani music group came in as the second<br />
guest. Among the most important choices<br />
they have made in their group is to put<br />
God first, and to pursue education in<br />
addition to performing music. The third<br />
guest was Jeff Koinange, a renowned<br />
Kenyan j<strong>our</strong>nalist. Among the great choices<br />
Jeff has made is to always be prayerful<br />
because that is what keeps him going. Jeff<br />
emphasized the fact that everyone should<br />
follow his or her dream and purpose to<br />
achieve what they want in life. He also said<br />
that he has never feared failure. That was<br />
rather profound and it left an indelible<br />
mark on the rather attentive student<br />
audience.<br />
The second aspect of Signature<br />
J<strong>our</strong>nal is “The Choices We Make”<br />
publication. The publication, yet to be<br />
published, will carry relevant and enriching<br />
content featuring features, news articles<br />
and interviews among other creatively<br />
written material. The Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal<br />
strongly advocates fun and creativity<br />
hence, art, food and fashion will also have<br />
a place in the publication.<br />
Lastly, the video j<strong>our</strong>nals: the main<br />
intention of these is to feature those<br />
people who were not able to make it to<br />
the grand events, but have still made a<br />
positive impact in the society. These videos<br />
are meant to be shared on relevant social<br />
media platforms so as to uplift people’s<br />
spirits and give hope to these who are on<br />
the verge of giving up.<br />
Signature J<strong>our</strong>nal abides by one<br />
principle; “always strive to make the<br />
right choices because YOU CAN and also<br />
because you are still the bearer of the<br />
consequences, whether good or bad”.<br />
“We believe making the right choices is not<br />
rocket science, it is simply about listening<br />
to that inner voice , called the conscience”<br />
said Eileen Kairu, signature j<strong>our</strong>nal’s social<br />
media manager.<br />
When all is said and done, the<br />
question you should always ask y<strong>our</strong>self is,<br />
‘What kind of choices will I make today?’<br />
DaystarConnect 2015 • 49
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