I
went to school in the same neighbourhood for 15 years. 3 years pre-school and
12 years “big school”. We didn’t all like each other. There was no escape
hatch. Being “like” each other (and most of my schooling was during Apartheid)
doesn’t mean you are like each other. At times we were buddies. At times we
were cruel. The guys I was with the whole way saw me wet my pants as a 9-year-old.
They saw my rabbit teeth. My four eyes. My tin grin. They saw me cry. They saw
me try too hard. They saw me not try hard enough. When I was 16, I joined the
Durban Youth Council with kids from various parts. Westville is a tiny slice of
Durban. I started fresh. A new context. I could be seen. I was still at school
in Westville, but I got new confidence. Sometimes, realising your bubble is just
a tiny part of the world lets you release the rubbish. Realising the people you
are most like are probably the people you clash with the most. “Absorb what is useful.
Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own.” (Bruce Lee).
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