After doing all I could to find a cryptography topic to write my thesis, I resigned to the wishes of Professor Ryan to write a Coding Theory Thesis on Non-trivial Autimorphisms of Goppa Codes. The cryptography topic suggested by the visiting Professor Schaefer, I had already touched on extensively the previous year while assisting another Masters student, being supervised by Prof. Schaefer, with programming to assist in generating his results. I wanted to write something knew and original.
I sat in the MSc Lab with my abstract with my head blank on what to do with Coding Theory. In my aspirations, I wanted to do a cryptography topic as that would have relevance to my career as a computer scientist for information security. This pursuit highly blinded me from the fact that I had a highest grade in the Coding Theory module than cryptography. I might have worked hard on it so it could give me less trouble possible while I concentrate on the cryptography I have wanted, but it seems this is what encouraged the professor to give me a coding theory topic than a cryptography one. As such I was blank as to what I would do with coding theory in my career.
Time was not on my side, I had to graduate. At Phwezi Boys Secondary School, we had a slogan: Accept the challenge, God will guide. I accepted the topic as a challenge God would guide.
The first night, in the Lab, all I wrote was the acknowledgment. It was fearfully and thoughtfully written so. There were many more I would loved to thank and acknowledge but it was a requirement that it be short as possible. I had to remember.
Emmanuel Chima: when you are old and there is someone younger with some tenets similar to your youth, in being old you sometimes have to make new decisions which you can sure about if you remember how you made decision when you were younger. His life kept me walk on on the right truck with encouragement.
Edmond Kachale: suppose I say the guy crash tested my thesis to the point of breaking it. Shall it please my supervisor that I submit a thesis crash tested by a person with a mere bachelors degree he does not know? I did not forget to acknowledge you.
Archangel Chirwa: When you been regarded as a computer genius and been called lazy, you find that you are still an asset to someone who really wants to learn, it helps you organize your thoughts together which of your actions are laziness which of them are not. When you do share your thoughts about an IT matter you recall what you already know and understand yourself better. His life around me encouraged me to push further to what I really am inspite of the flatteries and discredits. This rebooted the courage to stand on my feet and walk the walk and the talk I have talked in the middle of all the noises in the crowd.
I guess, people might have misunderstood the inclusion of the word "troublesome" and treated me as a very troublesome person indeed. I gave her a lot of trouble with my asthmatic attacks when I was young that she resolved not to hashly treat me as I grew old. She has held me dearly that I wonder if my wife would be able to take me away from her love. She would rather watch me that I am ok all the time. She would stop me from doing many household chores that would be the reason I found myself concentrating much on academics than anything else. That's the only right thing I grew up knowing. Oh, plus the word of God. The Bible has been my best and faithful friend. It never leaves my bedside.
After a tearful and thoughtful night acknowledging people as they deserved, the morning was already come so I went to bed to rest a little bit having just written an acknowledgment for a whole night. And my head was still blank about what to write on in my thesis.