Last weekend a corporate client hosted teachers from previously disadvantaged school for a strategy workshop at their Sandton offices. They asked me to deliver an inspirational talk to open the workshop. This is an excerpt of my talk:
“That relationship with Mrs Maritz-Smit is probably one of the best relationships I have had.
In my life I believe that God has placed certain people who were guides. You know when you are on your way to an unknown destination and the not-so-reliable GPS has lost its’ signal, leaving you to your own equally unreliable devices and unclear directions from a person who assumes that you are familiar with their home town as they are. And then you bump into someone who comes to your rescue by giving you clear directions to your next turn, not the best, but clear enough to find yourself in the vicinity you need to be.
This is what some of these teachers have been to me.
The reason I am telling you this is because I want you to understand what you are doing, I felt I needed to remind you why your work is so important.
There are teachers that have spoken into my life, that have inspired me, that believed in me when no-one else did.
Teachers like Mrs. Maritz-Smit who believed I had leadership potential, back when all my other teachers unanimously agreed that I needed to be taken to a psychologist or needed to be kicked out of the school. She recognized this potential and showed a belief in me that I did not see in myself.
When I was about to get kicked out of Liberty Christian College there was another teacher Mrs. Buitendach who always believed that I was just a kid with too much energy. She always told me, "You just have too much energy but I believe in you, you just need to find a way to redirect this energy." I still remember the passionate expressions on her face.
When I was in Grade 9, I turned into a maths head, it was because of Mrs Ntilane. Before her mentoring I was a 40%-50% student, never really considered myself the ultimate mathematician. Until Mrs. Ntilane introduced us to Maths in the form of principles, she always to said us, “you must remember the principle. If you can remember the principle you can always navigate from the most complicated sum right down to the answer. REMEMBER THE PRINCIPLE!!!” I remember dramatically improving my maths marks. My friend Blessing and I would compete in class maths, if he got 98% for a test, I got 96%, or I would get 98% and he would get 96%. That fierce competition ignited my passion for mathematic, and it would carry me right through high school math, right through university until I received my degree. When I arrived in varsity I cruised through mathematical subjects, like computational maths, statistics and the like.
When I was in Grade 10, after my expulsion from Liberty Christian College, the English teacher at my new school, Mrs. Mocke, suggested I join this local speech competition, my first ever speech competition. She coached me and showed me the ropes and I received 2nd place in that speech competition. It was this competition that ignited my love for speaking.
I am telling you all these stories because I really believe that these teachers were placed in my path to help light up my path. God knows where I would’ve been ended up if I didn’t appreciate that I had leadership capacity and potential. I don’t know where I would be if Mrs. Buitendach didn’t recognise my excessive energy and the importance of channelling it in the right direction, or if Mrs. Ntilane didn’t teach me the importance of the principle. Or if Mrs. Mocke didn’t channel me towards my gifting. Today I am a motivational speaker and it is because of that first ever speech competition that Mrs. Mocke prodded me to participate in.
All these teachers that I have mentioned have had a tremendous enduring impact in my life. So many activities that I am involved in currently can be traced back to the investment that a teacher made some years back.
It was so negligible back then, but so significant right now.
This is why I really think, teachers are nurturers of greatness.”
