Dion Muchiza

I started at watershed college in January 2005. I left watershed in November 2006. I was in Form 2. For those that have been here since form 1 and are now in final year, you might be asking yourself, “what experience does he have of shed?” or “what do you know about being a zizi?” Since I was only there for 2 years.

Well, let me enlighten you as to my “Shed” experience –

I was placed, in the best hostel in the school, GOMBORA boys. Yes, I am a shark! In Gombora we had them all, we had, thieves, crooks, pastors, lawyers, fighters, dancers, affluent children, not so affluent children – the list goes on! You name a character trait, we had them all, I can safely name names and point fingers, now that we have all graduated.

I was a quiet one when it suited me! I was hardly ever in any trouble. I was not much of a sports star. I played cricket in the season, I skipped rugby at every opportunity and hockey was out of the question as I was left handed I ruled myself out. I was bigger then as well, which did not really help. I loved cricket though, but it was music that stole my heart!

The year before I started at Watershed College, the music department had put on a show at Digglefold (my primary school at the time), and the Marimba band stole my heart. In fact the whole department and its talent stole me and I knew 2 things:

• I was going to get to Watershed if it killed me
• I was going to join the music club.

So from the onset I joined the music department, and started off in the school choir! This was one of the best decisions I made with my 12 year old self at the time, and still considered as part of my top 10 best decisions of all time.

I automatically felt a sense of belonging. A sense of family. I realised from that experience that no man is an Island. We all need each other. There is absolutely no one of note in this entire world who made it to where they are without a helping hand from someone somewhere. I was in the choir, I was tenor. I could not sing soprano. I cannot sing a four part harmony by myself. Likewise with cricket, football and rugby. No one person can play all the positions by themselves. You cannot be the bowler and the wicket keeper at the same time. You cannot be a striker and a keeper at the same time. You cannot be a hooker, full back, and a prop all at the same time. You need others to help you achieve your goals and your dreams. Solo sports like tennis, still require a whole coaching staff behind the star in order for him/her to reach their maximum potential. This is what being in a choir, and later on, the marimba band taught me.

With collaboration and team work comes trust. You have to trust your team mates to play their position and to play it well. I was not a bass. I played the tenor marimba, I had to trust that the rest of the choir or band, respectively, were putting in as much time in practice as I was. I had to trust they played their part well. And they had to trust that I would do the same. They had to trust that I was knew what I was doing, that I was putting in the time and that they could depend on me. Again, each person has a position to play.

With that trust come with hard work. Everyone trusted that I was putting in the same hard work they were. And I trusted that they were putting the extra time required for the band and choir to succeed as a whole. And hard work always comes with sacrifice. Honours at the Allied Arts Competitions do not come without hard work and sacrifice. Do not contend yourself and cheat your potential by doing just the bare minimum, just enough to get by.

Remember:

• You are not alone – God is with you. Isaiah 41:10. Do not attempt anything without prayer.
• Trust – Trust in God. Always put your trust in Him. So when you trust in Him, He will guide you towards who you can work with. You can understand how to deal with issues or matters arising. Exodus 3:14
• Work hard -  nothing in the world comes without hard work, and with God, nothing you ever do will be beyond your capability. 1st Corinthians 10:13
• Sacrifice. No sacrifice no victory. For your salvation, God sacrificed His only begotten son, for your life. No sacrifice is too great, for what God has in store.

This culture of team work, trust, hard work and sacrifice is cultivated here at this school. I was here and this has stayed with me thus far. It is through these principles that I have managed to attain a Masters in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

I have spoken mostly about what music gave to me. So let me tell you what the rest of the school gave to me.

I remember one Sunday whereby I served five punishments all in one day, for various reasons. Suffice it to say it had been an eventful week. However, this is what I learnt from those experiences:

• Do the right thing. Always do the right thing. Given the choice between what is right and what is easy, DO THE RIGHT THING! If you do not do the right thing, you will end up suffering alongside those that have done wrong. And if you turn your head and keep silent, you have no right to complain. Correct things as much as you can. God will reward you.
• I realised I could have avoided 3/5 punishments if I had told my wing mates to lower the noise, clean the cubie, or … well, I am not going to talk about the cubigation.
• I have learnt through blanket punishments that I am my brother’s keeper. As part of a team, unit, wing, we are one. If one of us should rise, we all rise. If one of us falls, we all fall. Same goes for losing and winning.

Before I finished University, I had a job lined up. I was going to work for Transport for London (literally the backbone and nerve system of London). I work for their rail and underground/subway division. I am an Asset Manager. My job is to ensure that all our station have adequate electrical power, and to find new technology which allows for the control of power into the station according to the station demand in order to avoid overloading and shut downs. There are over 512 stations on the underground, I am responsible for approximately 100 of these. We cater to over 10million passengers every week, and for every day of the week, we cannot have shut downs, or power losses. I therefore have to ensure that the correct maintenance is done on the system in order to keep it at optimum performance. I have to understand the power demands of new assets added to the station power bank, and take the correct action in order to ensure that the station has enough power capacity to handle the new installations. It is a lot of responsibility and I have to ensure that my decisions are well researched.

That is my job!

Outside of this I am a Youth Leader at my church. I have various other projects I am undertaking including web development and property development (these are in their baby stages) However, the one that gives me the most joy is my Youth Team at church

So what does this have to do with you?

I imagine you are expecting me to tell you that you can be all you want to be , just like me. Well its true, you can, but that’s not what I am here to tell you.

I love my job. I am good at what I do. I love the people I work with