Meet Michelle Boit, chemical engineer mentoring 1,000 students.

Michelle Boit was born in Tulwet, a small village in Uasin Gishu County in north-western Kenya in the 80s. Her parents encouraged her to excel in school and to be the best she can be in the society.

Michelle Boit.

Her father was a professor of Biochemical Engineering at Moi University and her mother an administrator at the same university.

In school, mathematics and science subjects were like a walk in the park for Michelle. She was always at the top of her class, and, from the beginning, she knew she would pursue STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).

It was in high school where her passion for the sciences blossomed, and she decided she wanted to be an engineer. However, when she sat for her O-level exams, she scored mostly 'B' grades in her science subjects. Engineering courses were the preserve of straight A students.

'However good I was in sciences, I got 'B' grades and did not make the cut-off points required to pursue chemical engineering studies in Kenya, so I took an accounting course. But deep down I was not passionate about accounting. My father noticed this and decided to take me to the US to pursue my dream,' says Michelle.

She then joined Texas Tech University to study chemical engineering where she graduated with a first-class degree.

Mentorship bug

It was during her time in Texas that the idea of mentorship began. She started by visiting schools in her neighbourhood like Roberts Elementary School, Overton Elementary School and Slaton Middle School in Lubbock in Texas and encouraging the students to work hard.

Later Michelle applied for an internship at the British Petroleum (BP) Oil and Gas company in Amarillo, Texas, in the US. She was assigned three mentors who took her through the petroleum engineering industry. Later they offered her a job and she worked there for seven years serving in various business units and different fields. She worked in Amarillo in Texas, Wamsutter in Wyoming and Farmington in New Mexico.

While working there, Michelle continued visiting universities like Texas Tech University, University of Texas and Texas A and M University encouraging students to study petroleum engineering.

In 2012, Kenya struck oil in the northern part of the country, Turkana. Two years later, with solid experience in petroleum engineering, Michelle was offered a job as a petroleum engineer with exploration company Tullow Oil.

'I wanted to be a part of the pilot team involved in the discovery and exploration...