The schooling experience can be the defining years of a young individual’s life. Being able to participate within a mainstream schooling environment was extremely important for me and my family. It is important for young individuals to feel as if they’re welcome within the school environment and that they feel that they haven’t equal opportunity for success.
For primary school I attended Bryandale, this is where my older siblings went and I attended with my twin sister. As an institution, they were extremely welcoming and helpful when it came to building ramps and moving classrooms. I remember at the end of the school year there was always a day within the calendar called moving day and I assumed it had always been part of the calendar. Only to realize that moving day was because when I moved up a grade classes had to move down, so the day was 100% my day. I really enjoyed school when I was in primary school and managed to participate pretty well. I did however often miss quite a lot of school due to being sick but always managed to catch up.
One of my favorite memories from primary school is participating in physical education due to one individual who was determined to make me participate and wanted me to grow and enjoy physical education just like the other students. Kaide is an amazing human being who had a large influence on my schooling experience. I never felt out of place in school and I always felt like everyone is treated me as an equal.
For high school I attended Summit College, getting into a high school was a little more complicated as the schools in Johannesburg were not interested in having someone in a wheelchair in their school. I was extremely lucky to go to Summit and I believe I had a really good high school experience because of it. High school is difficult for everyone but for me, I really struggled to figure out who I was and who I was meant to be. I grew a lot throughout my high school experience and it definitely made me a more confident person.
My highlight from high school is definitely participating in drama (The subject). The subject changed my life because it gave me a new perspective on so many things and the people within my class really did become like family. High school was a little bit more difficult when it came to trying to catch up after being sick because there was just so much more done. I was always really proud of myself for managing to catch up and stay on top of everything.
After my gap year, I attended Varsity College Sandton, where I received my Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications and further extended to do my Honours in Communications. University was a really different experience because people didn’t really care who you were or where you came from. Everyone was extremely different and everyone was interested in getting to know new people. University was definitely one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far.
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