It all started with one teacher who saw the potential in me. Miss Farmer was my Grade 8 Technology teacher who applied on my behalf for a full scholarship to attend a focus school in Constantia. That’s how a little girl was exposed to more than the gang related violence and substance abuse Elsies River is often known for.
This was just the start of my education journey. I encountered remarkable people who pushed me and supported my dreams. At Cape Academy of Mathematics, Science and Technology (CAMST), my Life Science teacher, Mrs Patience, was the one who pushed the class to apply to tertiary institutions. Being the first person in my family to even reach Matric, this was all new and unknown territory for all of us.
By the grace of God I was accepted at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) for the BSc. Biodiversity and Conservation Biology undergraduate degree programme. During my first year my mother was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, and she passed away in my second year. Making that the absolute hardest of my life. During this time I relied on the support of my grandparents, family, friends and people like Rosemary Eager, my Life Science lecturer.
After my first graduation, a lot was still unknown but I soon felt at home at Stellenbosch University Botanical Gardens where I was offered an internship. They still can’t get rid of me there. The curator Dr Donovan Kirkwood became a great mentor and friend during my time a the garden. It was at this time that Dr Kirkwood introduced me to Dr Rhoda Malgas. It was also at my time at the garden and as a research assistant at the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) working in the Sustainable Wildlife Economies Project (SWEP) under supervision of Dr Hayley Clemens where I was inspired to apply for the Sustainable development Postgraduate Diploma.
During the two years of my Diploma training, finances were quite tough because I had to fund the course without being permanently employed. But amazing individuals like Dr Malgas and Ms Dorette Du Plessis helped in so many ways. Rhoda secured a bursary that covered about half of my outstanding fees through a contact at Grace2Learn Director, Mr Brad Sitzer. Dorette offered me a part-time job as part of the Iimbovane Outreach Project Team that enabled me to graduate without any outstanding fees.
My academic history highlights the importance of people around you. There aren’t enough words in the world to write down how much my mother and family did for me, so I won’t even try. I would just like to honor the ones before me and how helped knitted this journey together.
I lost my mother and Mrs Farmer to cancer very early, and it breaks my heart that they were not here to enjoy this moment – my graduation – with me. They are the one’s who saw my potential from the very beginning and I just hope I made them proud.
The Small Things Fund 