WHERE IT ALL BEGAN...

In a community where family is the center of everything, moving alone to a different country went against everything I knew.

Born to a bookkeeper and then city council worker times were tough. My sisters and I never lacked for anything, our parents always ensured that no matter what my sisters and I always had what we needed. Family and church were what we knew, from Saturday Christian school to Tuesday prayer meetings were we would often sleep on the benches (if mom allowed) all made for a memorable childhood. 

Our parents wanted to ensure we attended good schools as a good education was something they both wanted for us. Zonnebloem Girls Primary School was were I finally got to pursue my dream of doing ballet (lessons were also cheaper here, we had attended a school before this Claremont Primary and the rates were ridiculous). It was here I met Mrs Jacobs who after noticing me slacking (because you know you don’t want to be too enthusiastic about something your friends aren’t with), pulled me aside and told me she saw I had potential and to pull up my socks. So that’s what I did, picking what I loved instead of following a crowd (something I ended up doing a lot of the time). Memories from Gardens Commercial High went from always being in detention for coming late to being picked on for being way too skinny (I recall being picked on because my legs looked like chicken wings under my skirt). Second to last year of school I decided I wanted to pursue a career in forensic pathology as well as a boy so I went to Plumstead High School. It was here I got to meet some of the coolest people I was yet to meet as well as my first taste of traveling.  In 2008 I went to Germany as an exchange student and that was it... the travel bug bit and it bit hard! 

University of the Western Cape was my next stop, where I enrolled as a Biotechnology student enjoying both life science as well as medical bioscience (I liked being in a lab coat as well as playing with cadavas). This was also where I got introduced to my inner wild child, getting piercings that lead to my mom not speaking to me for a week (BOY did she flip when she saw my tattoos 😶).  My last 6 months of school included me learning how to master poker and dominos... needless to say I failed my year!

Deciding then that maybe retail could be my thing and also just loving the idea of making my own money. Mom however was determined that her daughter gets some sort of higher education then got me to enroll at Cornerstone Christian College. This would be the place that saw me break and later be there to pick me up again. 

Studies just got too much so I took a break and started working at Virgin Active Health Club. These were years I would highlight as some character building years. I learned a great many things here, one of those things was my new found love for fitness. Thanks to the help of my sister I became a group instructor teaching Pilates, boot camp, nova and splash. Being able to help people get closer to their fitness goals really made doing my job so much more enjoyable. Due to an accident in 2014 I had to cut my new found love short in order to recover. From there on in I bounced around trying to find a place for my wondering soul (this process angered way more people than I would have liked).

2015 saw my move to the USA, my first few months I cried myself to sleep almost every evening. The constant thought of making the wrong choice drowned me - missing my family, having to become accustomed to a new culture, the weather and the food. These were all things I was determined to see through! Having made new friends who had been in my situation made the adjusting process a whole not easier, within 6 months my new place felt like home. Being blessed enough to have the opportunity to show my younger sister around my new home while she visited a few months later. While on a missions trip in Florida 2016 I got to see my parents and even got to show them New York City (which I was so proud of).

I still get home sick every so often, being away from my loved ones and culture is not always easy, being blessed with amazing family and supportive friends have gotten me through so really rough days. What keeps me going is the fact that every day I am living and working towards my dream -That one day I am able to use my platform as an international supermodel to encourage so many young men and woman from Retreat, Steenberg, Bonteheuwel, Strandfontein, Mitchells Plain and all of Cape Town that if the girl next door who has come through what you have, who has a story that should have broke her but chose to pursue her dreams then YOU CAN TOO! It is okay to go through stuff, let that be part of YOUR story you tell one day when you’ve reached your dreams!