By Isaac Akugizibwe

KIU, Main Campus-KIU Alumni, Kenneth Nyabongo currently serving as  Managing director of KENTOM finance company has urged students to utilise the limited time they have at the University of they are to survive in the post-pandemic era.

Talking to this website in a virtual interview, Nyabongo acknowledged that time in school and University has tremendously become small and only limited to academic excellence as a result of changes in the Education calendar following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nyabongo observed that many students join Universities with enormous expectations and end up going astray. He noted that the post lockdown era is likely to be more tense for University students as they will have a lot to cover in a limited time frame.

"Universities will have no time when they reopen for physical interactions yet students would wish to relieve themselves from the lockdown stress. This requires students to be focused more than ever," Nyabongo noted.

He has advised first-year students and those set to join University life for the first time to avoid, peer groups, showbiz and recklessness when they join Campus as proclaimed in the proverbial Campus life.

"You must first be yourself. We come from different backgrounds yet we want to compare ourselves with others. Live within your means. What you don't have today, you will have it tomorrow," He advised.

"University life is just a project which has got a life-span. Use your time effectively and avoid misleading friendships," he added.
He also encouraged students to adjust to the new normal and avoid overstretching parents financially.

"Adjust and fit in the new normal. The pandemic has hit us all so hard economically. A parent may not be able to give as much money as before," he explained. 
Nyabongo started operating businesses while still a student at KIU when he started selling electronics and later opened up a boutique near his hostel. This he said helped him to raise upkeep hence easing pressure on his parents.

He said that there are still many income-generating opportunities that students can undertake alongside their academics in order to benefit themselves.
"There is a lot of opportunities which you can tap in to benefit yourself. You need to simply identify a problem in your locality and provide a transformative solution, businesswise,"  he advised.

Nyabongo graduated from KIU in 2018 with a degree in business administration and management specialising in finance and banking. He is now a businessman dealing in financial services and electronics as well as a politician.