Being a CF is hard - but manageable. I have already told my primary/childhood school story and everything I had to go through back then. And soon I will tell my high school story. But since I am at university now, I will firstly tell my uni-story.
You know that all so common question people ask you: "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
Now my answers have always been one of the following three: a doctor, a teacher, a climatologist / meteorologist.
One of my great passions in life is nature, but to be more precise - the weather. I love clouds and thunderstorms and hail and tornado's and lighting and rain and snow...
I would rather prefer a dark, thunderstormy day than a bright, sunshiney day. I think I got the passion from my father. He too is a weather fanatic. I even have a book with different types of clouds in it - and I would write down the date on which I have seen that specific type of cloud for the first time, next to that said cloud. It is a father-daughter-thing.
BUT, getting a job as a white, female meteorologist would not have been easy. I would have either worked in Johannesburg, Cape Town or outside of my home town. With only three possible options and me being put in a situation where I had to take leave for a few weeks to go to hospital, this didn't sound like a very good idea. It was a bit too complicated a situation.
My other great passion is Biology and the human body. I have always wanted to be a doctor - because I basically grew up in the hospital (referring to all my hospital visits, check ups, and and and). I appreciated my doctors so much, that I wanted to be one of them too. My role models!
BUT, needless to say - being a doctor means hard hours, no sleep, and being around sick people most of the time. How would this have affected my life as a CF? Definitely not positively. I have spoken to my doctors as well and they too suggested that I rather go for something else.
My third passion in life is teaching and being in a wonderful, social situation where I can laugh and love the people around me.
As a high school student, I have always enjoyed school. Yes, I was kind of a "nerd" (though I am not sure what standards or scales people use to distinguishes between nerds and "cool" people,) and I did very well in metric, got my 8 distinctions in my various subjects and was even appointed under head girl of the school. I loved my teachers and friends and always felt comfortable in that type of environment.
Another plus point was the fact that I had vacation 4 times a year, which means plenty of time for hospital check-ups.
I also l.o.v.e. teaching. It is a passion I have!
This was the occupation for me.
And that is what I am currently studying for:
I study through Unisa - University of South Africa. Unisa is a distance education university, which means a student studies primarily on his/her own. Therefore you have to have lots of self-discipline and be able to set fun aside, go to your room and open your books for a daily study-session.
The course I am doing is a General BA, and I major in Maths and English. This is only my first year, as I have taken a gap year last year to get my health on track.
The advantage of studying through Unisa is the fact that you can continue your studies while in hospital. Think about it: how would I have gone to uni today, tomorrow, or the past week? I would have missed all my classes and tests and lectures.
But now I am here in the hospital, sitting on the bed with all my study material with me, and I am right on track with everything!
(as a matter of fact - I have just completed one of my 5 modules earlier today! yay!
So when it comes to CF and having a job some day, I would say that it is very important to consider your time spent in hospital v.s. the amount of leave you can take. You have to prepare yourself for your future and think about these kind of things.
Happy Living
Breathe & Believe
Nina xx
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