When Irene Kyalo was given a chance by the government to study Education course at Garissa University in 2014, she did not know that she would fall victim to an Al-Shabaab attack.
The vibrant student, who hails from Kitui, arrived at the university on October 4, 2014, in tow with her lovely parents who encouraged her to soldier on in the quest to fulfil her dreams.
Determined to excel in her study to become a renowned professor, Irene wasted no time to embark on her studies.
Life, she attests, was good as the lecturers and her new buddies were accommodating and helpful.
Hordes of assignments and continuous assessment tests characterised her first semester, tasks, she claimed, were executed professionally in partnership with her colleagues at the institution.
However, Irene's life took an unprecedented turn on April 2015 when, in the wee hours of the morning, insurgents raided the institution and massacred 148 students, mostly the Christians faith students.
Among them were her three roommates of whom she described as loving and industrious colleagues.
" They were more than friends to me. We shared very many things. From doing assignments together to partying mostly on Saturday nights,'' said Irene amid tears.
The incident, she claimed, shattered her dreams of graduating together with her departed colleagues.
Ironically, Irene refused to abandon the institution despite the fact that several of her survived schoolmates opted to relocate to other universities for fear of being attacked again.
"The power of the pen cannot be replaced with that of a gun. Even though terrorists wanted to scare us away from acquiring knowledge, we must stand and vehemently denounce their archaic ideologies and plan," claimed Irene.
She admits that she indeed underwent psychological and emotional stress, but overcome it swiftly after she got enough counselling from her pastor.
Currently, she is in third year and expecting to graduate in 2020 with a degree in Education.