Turning dreams into Reality

When we are little, we tend to draw mental pictures of our future. We dream about our desired career, the house we would like to own and the flashy sports car that would make us the envy of all our friends; however, as the years progress and we mature, our dreams tend to change and we begin to set higher standards for ourselves with the hope of releasing our full potential.
Not so long ago, my dad had a brilliant idea about how we can make our dreams visible. He said that we should put together a vision board and went on to explain that it should consist of pictures that reflect our dreams and plans for the next few years. Being the dreamer that I am, I mapped out all my dreams and goals; my vision board helped me see my dreams come to life.

When I was younger, I had countless dreams, goals and aspirations, as to where I would see myself once I completed school. People would often ask me, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”My answer would always be “Teacher” or Lawyer”. However, when I was in Matric I wanted to pursue a career in Child Psychologist. I successfully completed Matric with a merit endorsement and a distinction in Mathematics, and a year later I was accepted at the University of KwaZulu – Natal where I majored in Psychology and Sociology.

During my first year of study I was exposed to a number of cultures and to a world that encouraged you to be an individual. I was always quiet and reserved while growing up, but, university helped me break free from my shell of comfort. Later on that year I was introduced to media Studies. This encompassed everything that I was intrigued about. It involved Television, print media, pop culture, as well as interaction with the Internet. In my second year, I was advised by a lecturer to take on a second major so that my options would be greater once I completed my degree. My obvious choice was English because it worked coherently with the media. The English courses that I took encouraged me to think critically and helped me to speak and write eloquently.

When I graduated my goal was to get into advertising has it encouraged creativeness and it made use of all mass mediums. Unfortunately, advertising agencies in South Africa required a little more than a university degree therefore I was not successful in following that career path. My first job after graduation was as a receptionist for an aluminium extrusion company. At this company I learnt the mechanics of the corporate world; I grew as a person and was able to apply myself differently. However, I did not feel fulfilled, I felt stagnant, as though I was wasting my life and my education. I decided to take action and seek better prospects. I dreamt of spreading my wings and flying to any destination that would accept me; I soon landed at a company called Metonymy who is passionate about helping individuals release their full potential. I became part of a company of people who are not afraid of imparting their knowledge and skill to anyone who walks through their door, it was here that I began to truly see my dreams come to pass because I was given an opportunity to release my full potential and grow in creativeness and eloquence.

A wise man once said, “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life that you’ve imagined”. I have put those words into practice and have been able to gain the goals that I set for myself. I also believe that in order to succeed in life, you have to remain focused and not be side tracked by things around you.