On the 21st of June I had the pleasure to speak with Mr. John Nderitu who is currently the Global Alumni Coordinator at Nova Pioneer. My first natural question to John was, “Who are you and what do you do?”. In his own words, he describes himself as a student at the University of Nairobi in their Construction Management programme, a son, class representative, construction manager, Nova Pioneer alumnus and the Organising Secretary for the Construction Management course at the University of Nairobi. John’s current passion lies within construction because he enjoys the process and the vigour. 

Now that we know a little bit about John, we can dive into today’s subject matter; the experiences that John has had the pleasure of living through, the opportunities he had as a Nova Pioneer student, an intern at the organisation and now as a fulltime teammate.

Strong Culture

As an alumnus, John describes the culture instilled in the community as one that has allowed him to learn how to collaborate at the workplace and grow with others. He also feels that it has contributed to his positive growth as the CRESA organizing secretary which is a pro bono position that he enjoys and is grateful for. He has learnt the essence of scheduling and collaborative plenary. The skill of networking has also enabled him to engage with others, offering him opportunities most at his age never get to experience. There is also a keen focus on self development, and growth feedback sessions.

Connection

Because Nova Pioneer believes and invests in ensuring its students are connected to each other, experiences and opportunities, it was a natural transition for John to join the Learning Design team as an intern when he completed his K.C.S.E in 2019.  interest in seeing the backend of lesson design and the opportunities to give back to the Novaneer community as an intern was dear to him. His choice to join the Learning Design team is based on how crucial the work the team does is to the direct impact it has on students’ learning and outcomes. He wanted to be at the core of what makes learning at Nova Pioneer different, having experienced the unique learning model himself, as a former student. 

For John the opportunity within Learning and Design was very constructive. The belief that failure is and growth from it is acceptable and the opportunity to always call for help when you need it. He has had the uniquely distinct pleasure of working as an intern within Learning and Design for three different cycles. He really enjoyed the STEM department especially the practical versus theory and this was also compounded by his passion for the sciences which he carried forward from his high school experience. He may have evolved from sciences to construction but he is just as passionate about opportunities in this field. His successes were also facilitated by working with kind people who allowed him to flourish despite the age difference. 

John’s final words are, “ I am grateful to the Novaneer community for the opportunities accorded to me and to helping shape me into who I am today. I believe that the impact will live on”.

Do you want to learn more about the role Nova Pioneer’s Learning Design team plays in delivering our unique learning model across our 16 schools in Kenya and South Africa? Do you want to hear more stories on the impact our alumni are making across the globe? Join our next open day by filling out this form.