A Family of High Expectations
With their parents’ unwavering commitment to education, the Karanja brothers are stacking up college degrees as a first-gen family.
Photos by Matt Wright ’10
A chorus of cheers erupted from around the DCU Center as Ryan Karanja’s name was called during Commencement 2024. His fan club—parents Phil and Phylis, three brothers, and various relatives and friends—were spread throughout the audience. That day, Ryan became the second in his family to earn a Worcester State degree, following in his older brother Kevin’s footsteps as a first-generation college graduate. It was an exciting moment for the whole family.
“I was hearing screams from all directions, and I wanted to look at everyone,” Ryan said. “It was a good day.”
Right behind Ryan will be Roy Karanja, a biology major who starts his sophomore year at Worcester State in August 2024. The youngest, Alex Karanja, is at Doherty High and says he’s considering Worcester State among his options. The brothers credit their parents for their educational success.
“We celebrate them for bringing us up so well and making sure we have a proper education so we can carry it on in the future,” says Ryan.
In the 1990s, both Phil and Phylis came to the U.S. from Kenya, but they met here in Worcester at a St. Peter’s Catholic Church prayer group. “It was the opportunities,” Mr. Karanja said. “That’s why we came here. We were looking for greener pastures.”
The American dream, Mrs. Karanja said, “is what you achieve yourself.”
The couple went to work creating opportunities for their four boys. Leaving behind factory work, Mr. Karanja became a certified nursing assistant and Mrs. Karanja earned her L.P.N. at Quinsigamond Community College. Today, they both work in a nursing home. As essential workers, they work long hours and regularly miss holidays like Christmas because they are working.
“We still have family in Africa that we support,” Mr. Karanja said. “We didn’t have time to get sick. We had to work, work, work.”
FRONT ROW: Phil and Phylis Karanja, with their sons. BACK ROW, FROM LEFT: Alex, Roy, Ryan, and Kevin.
The parents have been unwavering with their sons about education. “They aren’t going to achieve anything without education,” said Mrs. Karanja. “A long time ago, if you worked someplace a long time, you could be promoted. Now they want education.”
The couple have insisted their children not hold jobs while they are in college so that they can focus on their studies. That, in turn, has meant the couple has had to put in more hours.
What they want for the children, said Mr. Karanja, is a good life, “where they don’t have to struggle. If my kids can do what I didn’t do, they should enjoy Christmas.”
Kevin was the first to enroll at Worcester State. It wasn’t his first choice—he wanted to go to a football school like Alabama or West Virginia. However, Worcester State was close by, and he took part in the Alternatives for Individual Development program offered by the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA). Eventually, Kevin got involved with the Student Government Association, and he remained active with OMA. After graduating in 2012, he served as an Upward Bound coordinator for three years and a chemistry teacher in Worcester Public Schools.
Kevin went on to earn a master’s degree at Salem State and now owns Autism Therapeutic Services, a Worcester company that works with autistic children. He says that graduating from Worcester State without debt has enabled him to pursue his ambitions. He and his wife, Patricia, have two daughters, ages 7 and 2.
“Now, the kids want to be like their brother,” Mrs. Karanja said of her other sons. “He went there and did well, and they want to go there, too.”
The brothers say expectations within the family have always been high.
“Expectations are Ph.D.,” Ryan says, only half joking. “Very high expectations were set with my older brother. We live in a world where things can be taken away from you because of how you look, but education can never be taken from you.”
With his bachelor’s degree in hand, Ryan is applying for jobs in the computer science industry. He’s interested in programming for the Internet of Things and ultimately being his own boss.
Roy finished his first year at Worcester State with a 3.5 GPA, has recently been elected as a senator at large for the Student Government Association and has been working with high school students in Upward Bound. With plans to become an eye doctor, Roy is already thinking about graduate school.
“We are encouraging them to make sure they do their college education, and if they can go beyond that one day, the more education you have, the better chances you have,” said Mrs. Karanja. “For us, our legacy is for them to be educated. The legacy is they all went to college.”
And it shouldn’t stop there, says Mr. Karanja. “Even the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren should follow them.”
Top image: L to R: Brothers Roy, Ryan, and Kevin Karanja
