Dr Nancy Achieng Booker: Giving up has never been an option

Dr Nancy Achieng Booker is a senior lecturer and chairperson of the Journalism and Communication Department at Multimedia University of Kenya. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • I want to build the research capacity for my university and my department so that we not only become a teaching university but also a research hub on matters communication and multimedia.
  • The world will be a better place with more educated women. Women not only uplift themselves when they succeed but they carry the rest of the society with them. But that doesn’t come easy and women have to work  three times as hard as their male counterparts to make it.
  • I love it when I sit back at home and watch my former students all over the TV screens doing what they do best. I also love it when I turn the pages of newspapers and see my former students’ name bylines and hear them over the radio. That’s what keeps me doing what I do.

Q: Tell us about your background.

I am an honoured and proud first born in a family of five children. Being a first born, the pressure to set a good example has always been overwhelming. I thank God for the strength and courage that enabled me to take the bull by the horns and embrace my role.

What kind of a person are you?

I am vibrant, adventurous and very resourceful. I believe in achieving what I set out to  do. Giving up has never been an option for me.

About family?

Like Princess Diana said,  “Family is the most important thing in the world.”  Family is the one and only place where your life begins and love never ends.

What were you doing prior to joining teaching?

I worked for KBC and Nation Media Group in their broadcasting divisions.

What does your job entail as a senior lecturer?

My job entails teaching, research, curriculum development and student mentorship. I also mentor younger colleagues in the academy.

Given your tight schedule, do you get time for your family?

Yes I do. I get home in good time to prepare dinner on most nights.

How do you unwind?

I love to travel. I also watch lots of movies and I love to cook. Cooking helps me unwind and I love trying out new recipes.

Challenges you encounter?

Working with young people who today have several sources of information. This can keep me awake at night as I imagine their lives fading away because of wrong choices. It pains me when a student has to drop out for having been involved in a vice.

What is the one thing unique about you?

I am left-handed but when I was born, my parents were convinced that it was bad to have a left-handed first child so they trained me to use my right hand. So I can use either hand when writing but use my left hand for everything else.

Highlight some of your successes.

Being the first woman to graduate from Daystar University with a PhD. Ensuring all my siblings got a university education. Helping my mum raise my siblings after the death of my father, and training some of the most successful and the most sought-after media personalities.

What legacy do you wish to leave at MMU?

I want to build the research capacity for my university and my department so that we not only become a teaching university but also a research hub on matters communication and multimedia.

What inspires you?

The need to make my country better by having ethical and professional journalists who critically think about the media content they air/publish and the consequences of that content.

What advice would you give to women?

The world will be a better place with more educated women. Women not only uplift themselves when they succeed but they carry the rest of the society with them. But that doesn’t come easy and women have to work  three times as hard as their male counterparts to make it. The resilience of women  who have made it makes for a good TV series.

What do you enjoy the most about your work?

I love it when I sit back at home and watch my former students all over the TV screens doing what they do best. I also love it when I turn the pages of newspapers and see my former students’ name bylines and hear them over the radio. That’s what keeps me doing what I do.

What’s your favourite meal?

Fish and ugali.

What three things do you like doing?

Reading, watching movies and dancing. 

What separates you from others?

I can’t stand mediocrity. You either do it right or don’t do it at all.

What mantra do you live by?

Faith is not believing that God can. It is knowing that He will.

If you were not a lecturer, what would you have become?

I would be a restaurant owner, a fashion designer or an interior decorator.

What car are you?

I am a Mercedes Benz; charming, firm, elegant, not easily intimidated and timeless.

What are your future plans?

Raise a beautiful family, become a professor in my field and head one of the universities in this country.