I didn’t come from an affluent family but I always had dreams of studying abroad. So, I worked hard in school to secure a scholarship for further studying at a university abroad. Things were going well and I got accepted to a college in America to do my Master’s program. Securing a scholarship took a bit of time but eventually, I got one and I was one step closer to fulfilling my dream of studying abroad.
Everyone was excited for me and my church did a small fundraiser for me to get some supplies and pocket money while I was in America. So when I go there, I wasn’t pressed for cash. In fact, I was able to rent my own place with the little money I had while I looked for work. No one knew that I was there on scholarship and I went out of my way to make sure it remained a secret. It’s not that I was ashamed of being a scholarship kid, I just didn’t want my experience while studying abroad to be that of a scholarship kid. I wanted to do everything my other classmates did.
It didn’t take long for me to make friends. In fact, on the first day of school, I met a guy who would become my boyfriend. He was from an African country just like me but unlike him, I didn’t come from a wealthy family.
“Hey, pretty girl.” He said
“Hi,” I replied trying to act cooler than I was.
“Which country are you from?”
“Kenya. You?”
“South Africa.”
I knew he was lying. I could tell from his accent that he was from a West African country but I decided to play dumb for the sake of making friends.
As we got to know each other, he opened up to me about how he didn’t get along with his family and that’s why they sent him to study abroad.
“I didn’t even want to do my Master’s but my father insisted that I needed it to be the CEO of his company.”
“Oh. That’s interesting because I don’t get along with my family either.”
I lied so he wouldn’t keep asking about them.
“Great. Two black sheep. I know we’ll get along.” He said smiling. “What are you doing later? We can go to this nice club close to campus.”
“Sure. I’m down.”
I didn’t worry about my grade getting affected due to partying since I knew I was smart. However, I didn’t know that my biggest problem would not be my grades but my boyfriend. He was a true rebel. I could count the number of times he came to class yet I knew he was in his house sleeping from a hangover.
After some time, I started liking the guy so I invited him to live at my place and we could share the cost.
“I just want to save on these designer shoes I saw online.”
“Oh, okay. You know, don’t worry about the rent. I’ll pay for it. Save your money, babe.” He said.
I thought I hit the jackpot but this was the beginning of my nightmare. The biggest mistake I made was to invite him over to a house that I was renting in my name. He started breaking the rules, quarrelling with the neighbours and before I knew it, I was kicked out of the apartment. I tried to explain to the management that I had nothing to do with it but they wouldn’t listen.
We moved to a hotel room where we stayed for almost two weeks as we looked for another apartment. At this point, the whole situation was affecting my school and I missed a couple of classes trying to find another apartment. I found one that was further away from the campus but was still manageable. This time, I let the guy know that he had to behave himself since unlike him, studying abroad was a dream for me. He promised that he would behave but soon, he was back to breaking rules.
We got kicked out of 5 different apartments in a span of 6 months. By the time school closed for the holidays, we were back to being homeless. Since I was done with my classwork, I didn’t receive a house allowance from my scholarship program so I had to survive on the small money I got working online. Dan had also blown through his allowance and his family had had enough of him. So, we were typically homeless. We ended up going to a cheap motel and when we couldn’t afford to live there we went to a homeless shelter.
Things were hard and I was at my lowest. Then I remembered, there was a former schoolmate who lived in the same state that I was. I got her number from the school and called her.
“Hello.” She answered which felt like an answer from heaven.
“Hi, Maggie. My name is Diana. I got your number from our admin at the university. Do you mind if we meet for coffee?”
“Oh, Diana. I was wondering when you’d call me. They told me you’re here on scholarship.”
I was so relieved knowing that she was expecting my call. We met later that day and I explained my experience to her.
“You’re lucky that you were able to keep your grades up. You’ll meet all kinds of people while studying abroad who you think are your friends but are just bad news.”
“That’s what I’ve come to learn.”
“Don’t worry. It’s not too late. You can stay with me for as long as you like.”
I ended up staying with her until I finished my studies then came back to Kenya. I later found out that Dan didn’t finish his Master’s and is still living in The US. Despite almost ruining my life, I tried to reach out to him and encourage him to finish his studies. My efforts were fruitless since the last contacts I had of him didn’t go through.
More stories on The Singlehood Series
The Perfect Gentleman Turned Out To Be A Rude Freeloading Guest
How A Bad Relationship Messed Up Her Life
How Hanging Out With A Bad Boy Got Me Arrested
How Revenge Porn Lead To A Suicide Attempt
He Beat Her Up But It Took Two Years For Her To Realize That He Was A Monster
She Found Out That Her Ex-Boyfriend Had Hacked Her Social Media Accounts
