‘DREAMS’

Dreams. They are easy to imagine and so hard to achieve. They push us to our  limits, sometimes allowing us to discover new horizons. A single dream can be life defining or life-altering, sometimes both. There is no right or wrong dream. Each one  is as valuable as the next, which makes them so precious. Dreams require action. Sometimes they require sacrifice. That, in my opinion, is  what makes them invaluable. As for my dream, let’s just say it’s taken a new shape. 

Rewind one year ago. I’m standing in my kitchen on a lovely winter afternoon, a  glass of Pinotage in hand, feeding Skye, my blue-eyed husky, a piece of meat as  her tail drums against the cabinet, keeping rhythm to an unwritten pop song. I look outside to my front yard, watching the sunset as kids cycle away on their little  bicycles with training wheels, giggling as their parents trail behind, frantically trying  to keep up. The fading light catches on my newly washed Porsche Cayman in the  driveway, a quiet reminder of how far I’ve come. 

That moment was a dream. Two, to be exact. I made myself two promises when I  was younger: one day, when I no longer needed to fight for my own survival, I would  drive my dream car, and I would have a blue-eyed husky named Skye. At that moment, I knew what achievement felt like. Yet there was one thing lacking:  fulfillment and purpose. I had been living for myself. Rightfully so, as I had worked  to the bone for all that I had. Yet the absence of purpose sparked inside me so  violently that I knew I would never be able to shake it unless I took action. So I did. 

Fast-forward to the present day: I’m living on campus, halfway across the world,  studying to become a psychiatrist. Sometimes dreams require sacrifices in order to  achieve greater ones. So here I am, one step closer, as the Director of Mental Health  for NISG, helping others and striving to leave my footprint in the world, wanting  nothing more than to inspire and uplift.  

In Afrikaans homes, we’re raised on “’n boom groei nie in een dag nie”—a tree  doesn’t grow in a day. My Porsche and Skye were quick fruits, but the slow roots of  gemeenskap (community) tugged harder. That quiet Boer value traded personal  wins for shared healing, now pulsing through my work in mental health. 

The best part? UNI isn’t just where my dream continues, it’s become a part of who I  am.