I was featured on Hung Lee’s Recruiting Brainfood with a fun 20 questions engagement! This was an incredible honour and writing this article took way longer than you could ever imagine!

1. Do you remember a time when you were happiest as a child? Where were you, who were you with and what were you doing?
   My happiest memories as a child was always when I was surrounded by loads of people. There are only four people in my immediate family but we are part of a big extended family. My fondest memories are of big family gatherings, where children spent the day playing in the swimming pool while the adults chilled with a few drinks and a good Braai (South African for BBQ). I have always loved being around people and have always taken a ‘more the merrier’ attitude to any social gathering.
   I also have incredibly happy and fond memories of my school days. Being an extroverted child, I loved going to school, mainly to see my friends! Some of my favourite memories are from the sports field. Whether it be playing Softball, Netball, Volleyball or Squash, I loved playing school sports and the best thing was that I always seemed to be part of winning teams!
2. At what age did you become an adult? What happened, and how did you know?
   Most people become an adult at 18 but I was a ‘late bloomer’. I only realised what it was like to stand on my ‘own two feet’ and to support myself when I moved to London at the age of 22. I had finished my studies, had my teaching degree in my backpack and off I went to explore the world. It was here that I was very quickly forced to grow up. For the first time ever, I had to deal with things like rent, bills and having to cook meals for myself. Coming from a privileged South African upbringing – these were all quite a shock for me!
   I soon got into the groove of this thing called work, paying taxes and managed to realise that the more you saved, the more you could do when it came to school holidays. I had an absolute ball living in London for seven years. I made some of my best friends, travelled the world and I realised that being an adult was not as difficult as most people make it out to be!
3. Name a well-known person you admire and explain why you hold them high esteem?
   I have always been a massive fan of Tata Madiba, or Nelson Mandela, as most non-South Africans will know him. I am amazed that someone who was imprisoned for 27 years, (yes, 27!) and made to perform menial tasks – like chipping away at limestone on Robben Island, off Cape Town’s coast, was not a much angrier man when he left prison. However, when Nelson was released from his imprisonment, by the white South African government there was no hatred or war. In fact, our white President at the time, FW de Klerk and Nelson Mandela were both awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for the peaceful transition that there was from a white to a black government.
   South Africa was the only African country to not endure a Civil War when the government changed from the colonial powers to an African ruled system. For this, I thank Mister Mandela as my life, and the lives of those around me would look very different if we had gone through a civil war.

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