I Will Try: Legson Kayira and the Power of Persistence

 

“I Will Try”: What Legson Kayira Teaches Us About the Power of Persistence

There are moments when a dream looks so distant that even beginning the journey seems foolish. For a young man growing up in colonial Nyasaland, now Malawi, the idea of travelling to America for an education must have sounded almost impossible. There was poverty. There were enormous distances. There were no comfortable flights waiting for him, no powerful connections opening doors and no guarantee that his dream would survive the first difficult mile.

Yet Legson Kayira walked.

He walked across Africa carrying little more than basic supplies, faith, books and an extraordinary determination to keep moving. His destination was not simply a place on a map. It was an education and, beyond that, a different future.

Kayira later transformed that remarkable experience into his 1965 autobiography, I Will Try. The book became a record of persistence, but its greatest lesson is contained in those three simple words.

The Meaning Behind “I Will Try”

The phrase was more than a motivational slogan for Kayira. It was the motto of Livingstonia Secondary School, where he studied. At a time when his circumstances could easily have dictated the limits of his ambition, those words offered another possibility: try.

That distinction matters.

There is a difference between saying, “I will succeed,” and saying, “I will try.” The first statement assumes a particular outcome. The second accepts uncertainty while refusing surrender.

Kayira did not know that his journey would end exactly as he imagined. He could not know which doors would open or which people would help him. What he knew was that remaining where he was would not take him where he wanted to go.

That is perhaps the most important lesson in his story for today's students: you do not always need certainty before taking the first step. Sometimes you need courage to begin without it.

A Dream Born in a Difficult Place

Kayira was born in Nyasaland and grew up in poverty. His father died while he was young, and continuing his education was not an obvious path for someone from his circumstances. Yet school became increasingly important to him.

He developed a passion for reading, particularly books about America and the lives of figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Booker T. Washington. Education began to represent something larger than employment. It became a route towards independence and personal transformation.

His ambition was extraordinary for the time. Sources recount that Kayira wanted to attend an American college at a period when opportunities for higher education in Nyasaland were extremely limited. His dream was not merely to escape poverty; he wanted to acquire knowledge and eventually contribute to his society.

For a young African student today, this part of his story remains remarkably relevant.

The world has changed dramatically since Kayira's youth. A student can now access university lectures from a phone, apply for scholarships online, read thousands of books digitally and communicate instantly across continents.

But opportunity alone does not guarantee progress.

The question remains: What will you do with the opportunity you have?

The Road Was Not Romantic

It is tempting to turn Kayira's journey into a beautiful adventure story and forget the hardship behind it.

According to contemporary reporting, Kayira began his journey in October 1958, travelling north through East Africa with the intention of reaching America. He walked for enormous distances and endured hunger, exhaustion, blisters and uncertainty. He carried items including an axe, flour, a Bible and The Pilgrim's Progress.

His journey eventually covered about 2,500 miles and took roughly two years before he reached Skagit Valley Junior College in Washington State in 1960.

That detail is important because persistence is often misunderstood.

Persistence does not mean that something is easy.

It means continuing when it is difficult.

Kayira's feet became painfully blistered. There were moments when exhaustion made him question himself. Yet the words associated with his school remained a psychological anchor: I Will Try.

The phrase did not remove the obstacles. It gave him a reason to continue confronting them.

When the Dream Finally Became Real

Kayira eventually arrived in the United States in December 1960, where his arrival attracted considerable attention. Skagit Valley College welcomed him, and he went on to earn an associate degree before studying political science at the University of Washington. Later, he attended Cambridge University in England, where he studied history.

His journey therefore did not end when he reached America.

That is another important lesson.

Sometimes people imagine success as a destination. Kayira's life suggests something different. Reaching one goal simply creates the possibility of pursuing another.

The boy who had once dreamed of an American education eventually became a writer. I Will Try, published by Doubleday in 1965, told the story of his remarkable journey. He later wrote several novels dealing with African social, cultural and political questions.

His persistence therefore produced more than a personal achievement. It eventually became literature that could inspire people he would never meet.

What African Students Can Learn From Kayira

For young Africans, Kayira's story carries a particularly powerful message because it challenges the belief that success belongs only to people with money, influential parents or powerful connections.

Those things can certainly make some journeys easier. We should not romanticise poverty or pretend that determination magically eliminates structural barriers.

Kayira's story does not prove that everyone who works hard will achieve exactly what they want. Nor should his experience be used to blame young people for circumstances beyond their control.

Its lesson is more modest and more useful.

When circumstances are difficult, persistence can still expand the possibilities available to you.

A student who cannot afford university immediately can begin with books, free courses, libraries or other educational opportunities. A young writer can begin with one page. A musician can begin with one song. An entrepreneur can begin with one small idea.

The first step may look insignificant.

Kayira's life reminds us that insignificant steps can accumulate into extraordinary journeys.

The Power of Starting With “I Will Try”

The modern world often celebrates talent.

It celebrates the entrepreneur who becomes successful, the musician who becomes famous, the student who achieves exceptional grades and the person whose story ends with applause.

We rarely see the thousands of ordinary attempts that came before the success.

Kayira's story turns our attention back to those attempts.

His great advantage was not that the road was easy. It was that he was prepared to keep moving along a difficult one.

For today's young African, I Will Try can therefore be read not as a promise of guaranteed success but as a philosophy of action.

Try the application.

Try the examination again.

Try learning the skill.

Try writing the book.

Try building the business.

Try creating the song.

Try asking for the opportunity.

Try again after failure.

And when the first attempt does not work, the phrase remains available.

I will try.

A Legacy That Began With One Step

Legson Kayira's story ultimately reminds us that extraordinary journeys do not always begin with extraordinary resources.

Sometimes they begin with an ordinary person standing at the edge of an uncertain road.

His journey from rural Nyasaland to American higher education, followed by further academic study and a career as a writer, was extraordinary. But perhaps the most human part of the story is that Kayira did not possess a map guaranteeing success. He simply kept moving toward the future he imagined.

He died in London in 2012, aged 74, leaving behind an autobiography and novels that preserved parts of his intellectual and personal journey.

For generations of African students, however, his most enduring legacy may remain the simplest one.

Not I will succeed.

Not I have everything I need.

Not the road will be easy.

Just:

I will try.

And sometimes, when the road ahead looks impossibly long, those three words are enough to take the first step.