A journey

My journey has a strange beginning. It begins with me watching television on a warm afternoon. I’m laying on the couch where the sun rays break through the curtains and hit my skin gently causing me to feel warm. I’ve stayed home from school today so everything is painfully quiet. Because it is during the week, I am all alone with the company of the television set. I am twelve years old and the series of events that will come next will change the trajectory of my life forever.

I flick through the channels and land on e.tv which is currently showcasing a special coverage of the inauguration of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. I see the girls smiling in their green uniforms. They wear faces of happiness like I’ve never seen before. I see a couple of celebrities talking about the school the school and what it means for women’s education in South Africa. Then finally, the benefactor, the woman who has made this all possible appears on the television screen saying how amazing a day it is for her and these girls. 

A lump forms in my throat. I have this burning desire to be one of those girls. I can almost taste their happiness. I can imagine myself walking the quad of the beautiful academy. I feel the school pulling me through the television screen, it calls my name and the burning desire to be one of those girls is born inside of me. I too want to be a leader although I don’t really understand the fundamentals of leadership yet. I want to stand at podiums and recite speeches like the girls I have seen on TV from the school have done. I want so badly to come to this school that I can almost cry.

I greedily absorb all the information I can find about the school. I put my newspaper clippings into a file with a face of Oprah on the outside. I suppose this is my first encounter with ambition. I have found a dream and I am going to stick to it. My heart is invested in the school. All I do is think about it. I don’t even know what it is that pulls me to the school. All I know is that I would love to go there and be one of those girls.

I tell my mom about my desires and while she thinks they are exciting and amazing, I can see it in her eyes that she thinks I am being unrealistic. She doesn’t say this to me however and she tries her best to encourage me. Then one day I write a letter and address it to Oprah herself. I tell her of my burning desire to come to the school, I tell her about my favourite activities and attach my school reports.

My mother mails the letter to the school and my reply comes in the form of application forms. 

I can almost die of joy.  I fill these forms in and I attach all my sincerest twelve year old girl prayers. God seems to like my prayers very much because I am called for a first round of interviews. I am nervous beyond belief and I say all my prayers again, this time asking God to guide me.  He listens and I get called for a second round of interviews and tests. 

On the 30^th of November 2007 my mother receives a call which makes her shout a big whoop which I can hear from outside. She tells me I have been accepted at the school with tears of disbelief and complete joy in her eyes. 

I am shocked beyond my ability to respond and I can feel my tears moisten my cheeks. I know that this is the hand of God at work. I receive an acceptance letter to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls and my life will never be the same again.

I am moving to a new address. I will continue the rest of my address there. Thank you for reading and sharing this wonderful experience with me. I will post occasionally but I feel the time to move has come. My new site is still under construction so I will post the URL in the next few days. Thank you so much yet again.

Love and blessings to you

-These are the makings of a woman