Misfits Celebrating Women's Month: An examiner, impulsive yet reflective.

Who am I really?

An examiner, impulsive yet reflective. Levelheaded,not excessively empathic, fair-minded and striving for intellect excellence. Extraverted and judging (not human beings, but opinions). I cherish decisiveness and accomplishments. Don’t ever go out with me if You have difficulty choosing Your meal from the menu! I gather information and I act on them as soon as possible. If You found out what Mrs Myers and Mrs Briggs would have called me, leave me a message.

I am a medical student in Hamburg, Germany, and currently working on my doctoral thesis in tropical medicine at a Gabonese research centre.

Where is the last place I would ever go?

I would actually go anywhere. The better question is, would I come back a second time? To South Africa I did come back and will do again, in love since 2015.

What am I completely over and done with?

Discussing my life choices with my mom. And I’ll probably still do it until the end and that’s a good thing.

What lessons has 2020, lock down and COVID-19 pandemic taught me about…

…myself

I really cannot stay in. After getting out of quarantine I was almost jumping on strangers to hug them out of joy to see another person’s face!

…friends

The best friends stay no matter the circumstances. All the rest are just accessories, not necessities.

…family

While I am aware I grew up well protected, I wouldn’t have anticipated the level of supportiveness my family is showing me in the new challenges this year brought me. 

…life

Should be dreamt big, but not planned more than three months in advance.

If I could talk to my 16-year-old self what would I say about being in my 20s. What did I expect vs. the reality?

I firmly believe that God did not put us here to chill in our comfy zones. We are called to explore, commit to a cause, and grab for life’s opportunities. I would tell my 16-year-old self how many good men would genuinely like her despite braces, pimples and glasses. I would tell her how exciting it is to discover a new passion every couple of years. And that it was neither possible nor necessary to know what she’d be doing at that point. I would describe how much better her husband would be compared to all those school boys. I would admit that times would be rough and that she’d better take good care of her relationships to her parents and best friends. That she’d need God more than she could understand. And that she should definitely eat all the new foods she can find. Nobody sees the size of Your pants while they cover Your beautiful backside.

If I could send a global message to all South African women, what would you say to them? About the times we live in and how to survive. Either emotionally, mentally, or physically.

You were the women shaping me when my birth mother was far away and You did a great job. Only a few months and I was forever be changed. Don’t ever overlook all the achievements of the hard work You do being the mothers of Your challenged country. A mother is not only someone who bears children. A mother is any women who goes the extra mile to improve something beyond herself, to leave any place better than she found it for the people coming after her.