A reflection by Farzana Sumra following a conversation with students at Premier School in Nairobi.
Recently, I had the opportunity to spend some time speaking with students at Premier School in Nairobi. Whenever I speak to young people, I am reminded of something important: the future is full of possibilities when you are young.
You have dreams. You have ambitions. There are things you want to achieve, places you want to go and careers you may want to pursue. And as you grow older, those dreams often grow with you.
That was where I began my conversation with the students. I asked them a simple question: What goes up and doesn't come down? The answer, of course, was age. But behind that simple icebreaker was a bigger thought. As our age goes up, our dreams, ambitions, priorities and responsibilities also begin to grow.
What do you want from your future?
I think it is important for young people to ask themselves this question. What do you want? What do you dream about?
Perhaps you want to buy a particular car one day. Perhaps you want to build a beautiful home. Perhaps you want to travel around the world. Perhaps you already know the career you want to pursue — or perhaps you are still trying to figure it out. That is completely fine.
When I was younger, I also had ambitions about the different industries I wanted to be involved in. Like many young people, I was thinking about the possibilities and trying to understand where I could see myself in the future. Eventually, I came to realise something important: life is what you make out of it.
You have to be willing to explore, learn and take opportunities when they come. Your future may not follow exactly the path you imagined when you were sitting in school. Mine certainly did not unfold according to one fixed plan. But that does not mean you should not dream or be ambitious. It means you should remain open to where your journey can take you.
Ambition is important — but so is responsibility
The interesting thing about growing up is that ambitions and responsibilities often grow together. When you are young, you might simply think about the things you want. As you grow older, the questions begin to change.
You may start asking yourself: How do I build the life I want? How do I make money? How do I build a career? How do I look after my family? How do I achieve my goals? And eventually: how do I protect everything I have worked so hard to build?
These are important conversations. We all have ambitions, but achieving those ambitions takes effort. It takes work, commitment and sometimes years of building. That is why I believe it is important to start thinking about protection as part of the wider journey of building your life.
Why I compare insurance to an umbrella
During my conversation with the students, I used a simple example. I asked them to think about an umbrella. When the sun is shining, how often do we think about using one? Usually, we don't. But when it starts raining, that umbrella can quickly become one of the most useful things we have.
That is how I think about insurance. Insurance is there to help protect what you work hard for. We do not wake up every morning expecting something to go wrong. We do not plan for an accident. We do not expect an illness. We do not expect an unexpected event to disrupt the plans we have made. But life can be unpredictable. And as we grow and build things that matter to us, we also begin to understand the value of protecting them.
You may work hard to build a career. You may work hard to provide for your family. You may save to buy a home or a vehicle. You may build a business. You may work towards giving your children opportunities that you did not have. All of those things represent effort. They represent time. They represent ambition. And many of them are worth protecting.
I want young people to ask questions
One of the things I enjoyed about being at Premier School was the opportunity to engage with the students and hear their questions. Someone asked, “How do you make money?” I thought that was a fantastic question — because curiosity is where so many important conversations begin.
Sometimes, we assume that young people are not interested in conversations about careers, money, business or financial responsibility. I disagree. Young people are already thinking about their futures. They are already looking at the lives they want to build. We should encourage them to ask questions.
Ask how businesses work. Ask how different careers work. Ask how people create opportunities. Ask how money is earned and managed. Ask what different industries do. And ask what it takes to move from simply having an idea to actually building something. There is no shame in not having all the answers. The important thing is to remain curious enough to ask the questions.
You are smart. You are brilliant.
This is something I genuinely wanted the students at Premier School to remember. You are smart. You are brilliant. You have opportunities ahead of you. And you have the ability to make decisions about the kind of future you want to build.
You may not know exactly what that future looks like yet. You may change your mind several times. You may discover an industry or career that you had never considered before. That is part of the journey. But whatever you choose to do, my advice is simple: do what you want to do and enjoy it. Do it with passion. And as you move forward, try to remain humble and grateful for the opportunities and people who help you along the way.
Success means different things to different people. For some, it may mean building a business. For others, it may mean becoming excellent in their profession. For others, it may mean supporting their family, creating financial security or simply doing work that they genuinely love. There is no single definition. But whatever success looks like to you, I believe passion, humility and gratitude should remain part of the journey.
Your dreams will grow with you
One of the reasons I enjoy speaking to students is that they are at the beginning of so many possibilities. Today, you may have one dream. In a few years, you may have another. The person who thinks they want to become a doctor today may discover a passion for technology tomorrow. Someone interested in business may become an entrepreneur. Someone who loves travelling may build a career that takes them around the world.
Your dreams can change. Your ambitions can evolve. But one thing remains important: be intentional about building your future. Dreaming is important. But at some point, we all have to start turning those dreams into action.
Dream. Build. Protect.
If there is one message I would like readers to take from my conversation at Premier School, it is this.
Dream. Allow yourself to think about what is possible. Have ambitions. Think about the career you want, the life you want to build and the experiences you want to have.
Build. Work towards those ambitions. Learn. Ask questions. Develop your skills. Take opportunities. Do what you do with passion.
Protect. As you grow and begin building things that matter to you, think about how you will protect them. Think about the people who depend on you. Think about the things you have worked hard to achieve. Think about the future you are building. Because the purpose of planning is not to live in fear of what might happen. It is to be better prepared when life does not go exactly as expected.
The conversation does not end at school
My visit to Premier School was one conversation, but I hope the students took something from it that stays with them. Perhaps it was the idea that they should be ambitious. Perhaps it was the encouragement to explore different career paths. Perhaps it was the importance of passion, humility and gratitude. Or perhaps it was simply the idea that, as you build your life and work towards your goals, you should also think about protecting what matters.
At Naveah Capital Insurance Agency, that is ultimately how I want people to think about insurance. Not simply as a policy. Not simply as paperwork. But as part of a wider conversation about the life you are building and the things you have worked hard to achieve.
We all have different ambitions. We all have different priorities. And as we grow older, those priorities will continue to change. But whether you are building a career, supporting a family, starting a business or working towards a personal goal, the things that matter to you deserve thought, planning and, where appropriate, protection.
Dream big. Build with purpose. And protect what you work hard for.
Speak to Naveah about protecting what matters to you
Whether you are thinking about your family's future, your health, your assets or your business, the first step is understanding the options available to you. Speak to a Naveah insurance adviser →
