Finances have always been a constant challenge ever since I was in matric and it made me realise that as much as I would love to pass, and also get the opportunity to be accepted into an institution, the question I had in mind was who was going to pay my fees, since I was being raised by a single parent and wondered whether she was going to be able to pay for my fees or not.

I was able to get enrolled at Tshwane University of Technology. For my first year, I applied for NSFAS but my application was not approved which meant my mother had to pay for my fees and resulted in her taking a loan. So, my first- and second-year tertiary fees would be paid. When I was doing my third year with a second attempt at NSFAS, my application was approved which meant a lot because it reduced the financial strain on my mother and I also was able to focus on my studies.

When it came to the end of my final year, it finally hit me that I am almost done with my diploma and I needed to start looking for a job. Job hunting is one of the most challenging things I had to go through as a young person and it can be really stressful. I started job hunting at the end of 2018 and that was the beginning of the most stressful and hardest process to go through. I started with so much enthusiasm and faith that I was going to get a job but little did I know that I was in for a ride. It was naïve of me to think that it was going to be an easy journey. Out of the number of jobs I had applied for, I only went in for two interviews which resulted in me not getting the job/s. When I was preparing for my final exams, I found myself in a state where my anxiety level was so high because a lot was expected of me and I had no other choice but to deliver.

I went to a public school and I would like to state that from my experience not much was done to fully prepare us for higher education and also the working world. I believe that when we are in secondary school, we need to get the necessary information which will assist us when it comes to choosing the career path and also the type of industry, we would like to be a part of. By the time we get to varsity we already have the basic information we need to get started where our journey of securing our dreams jobs could be a reality.

Unemployment can really get to someone – I have been unemployed for 1 year and 4 months now and it is the most depressing thing because I have to face my parents each day and I have to explain why I have not gotten a job yet while my peers are working. Since I saw that the possibility of me getting a job were slim, I made a decision to enrol to a beauty school to gain some skills so that I would be able to work for myself while still sending out my CV, because if I don’t get occupied with something I would end up taking a negative path just like most young people in the township.

One of the reasons which made me to go back to school and further my studies was because I wanted to increase the chances of me getting a job. I figured maybe having just a diploma was not enough for me to get a job and that must have been the reason why my applications were getting rejected. I honestly appreciate the “VOICES UNITE INITIATIVE” because it’s uniting not just young people but also corporates, NPO’s and educational institutions to ensure that decisions which are made moving forward are better and will contribute to a better country. There are so many issues affecting many young people, not just in our country but the continent as a whole, and so being part of such a movement where information is being gathered through surveys to truly understand what is actually happening on the ground – that is amazing.

It may have been a difficult journey for me but it is alarming to notice that we have a lot of young people being enrolled into university, looking forward to their graduations and eventually to securing a job, but in our country, it is not that easy. In our country we have more graduates than we have jobs available for them once they graduate. I am definitely looking forward to a season where we don’t have this high level of unemployment in our country.