October 2020

How are you doing and dealing with corona?

Personally I am doing a whole lot better than last month. The situation with the Corona virus is still the same although the increasing of numbers has started to slow down.

What did you do for uni and how was the outcome? Do you have any courses left for the diploma?

I haven’t done much work for university over the last month. I was mostly busy with work where I work as a researcher and programme facilitator. I don’t have any courses left to do for the year. I have passed all my other courses except the one where my tablet got stolen, which affected my ability to fully engage in class activities. This caused me to fail the course, which is something I’m really not feeling good about. I know I can do way better than that. In order to finish the diploma I will have to repeat the course next year. Unfortunately a few bad decisions last month put me in this situation. I decided not to move out of home because of my dad, which was a bad decision blinded by love for my family. I know now that it was the wrong decision, but now I have to take full responsibly for what has occurred.

How you want to move on from here? What are your next steps? Do you want to continue to study?

My next step from here is to get myself away from my situation at home. I need to live better and start looking after myself. It’s time I start believing it and actually do it. I definitely want to continue studying. I’m not a quitter, so I’ll dust myself off, learn the lessons that need to be learned and hopefully I get the chance to succeed this time.

Which career path do you want to follow and which job would you like to have after graduation?

I definitely want a career in sport, in academia as a researcher. I would also like to be an sport and development practitioner, a mental instructor and funny enough maybe this is why this happend to see if I really want this, can I really encourage and teach others to be mentally strong or how to become mentally strong if I can’t do so myself. So definitely it is in sport, I’m already a sport scientist, I also have a background in psychology so that’s definitely a linkage I would like to use one day. But for sure I want to work in sport, whether it is high performance sport or grassroot level focusing on development aspects I would like to be involved.

What are your plans for the holidays?

I won’t be having a holiday this year probably, because my contract at work runs up until December 31. This means I’ll be working up until New Year’s day and I’m really not sure if I’ll have my contract renewed. 

What did you do in your free time?

I like spending time with my friends, playing or watching football – you know I’m a big football lover -, helping other people in my community, reading or watching movies. As you already know, I’m a big Harry Potter fan. This is also the time where I enjoy going to the beach. However, I feel it’s becoming more dangerous, because gangsters start hanging out at the beaches in summer, So this year I will probably go to the pools rather than the beach. I also like hiking a lot and love spending time outdoors. I also like to do sports in general, not just football. I enjoy spending time with myself. I feel it’s a necessity to be able to spend time with myself and reflect on things I have achieved or plan to achieve, how to improve things and how to reach goals. I also love spending time with my girlfriend, but I mostly see her on weekends only.

In my community I try to help the elderly people, but mostly focus on the young people who grow up in underprivileged communities and are at risk of becoming the next gangsters of the township. They are mostly school dropouts or kids that have become addicted to drugs at a young age. I try to help them in any way I can, whether it is just playing football together or talking to them. I was once one of them and I managed to get out, so I know what it feels like. So if through my life I can touch and improve another life – even if it’s just one – this will be more than good enough for me.

Thank you for the opportunity of writing this report.