My favourite movie is titled The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith stars in this movie inspired by the true story of Chris Gardner, a salesman struggling to build a future for himself. The tale emulates the journey I am embarking on in life.
I landed my first job in 2000 as a waiter at a popular family restaurant in the V&A Waterfront after dropping out at high school. I was very unhappy but could not resign for I only had a grade 11 and with most decent jobs the minimum requirement is a grade 12 certificate.
It is when one of the customers at the table I was serving said, “you don’t belong here” when I realised that I had to do something to change my situation, to pursuit my happiness!
With the mission to empower myself, I decided to read newspapers and came across an advertisement seeking interested unemployed youths to undertake a 12month call centre learnership programme. Luckily I met the minimum requirements to enter the programme and made the 100 successful candidates from thousands of applicants. Upon completion, I was offered a permanent position by the same company. Here too I was frustrated and decided to enrol at a college to finish my high schooling part time.
Two years down the line, I obtained my senior certificate and I am now in possession of a National Diploma in PR and currently studying towards a BTech. This is only the beginning of many qualifications to come.
What keeps me motivated to further empower myself, is all the stupid jobs that I always find myself in. I believe that things happen for a reason and landing bad jobs, is just one of them!
