I grew up in South Africa. I stayed in a province called Gauteng. The suburb I stayed in was called Chartwell. I went to a primary school at Laerskool Louw Geldenhuys. I started school when I turned 6, I completed primary school when I turned 12. My best friend’s name was Stefan. I started at Linden High school when I turned 13. I completed my High school career 5 years later. I enrolled at Goudstad teaching college and started my teacher training. In my second year my college closed down and I changed my course from a diploma to a degree qualification. The rest of my studies I completed at RAU - now called University of Johannesburg.

I used to do a lot of water skiing. We often went to the Vaal river and spent our weekends riding our motorbikes, quad bikes and the motorboat.

Growing up I stayed with my mom, dad and brother.  My mom was a hairdresser and was Afrikaans speaking. My dad was a Plumbing contractor and grew up in a Afrikaans / Dutch family. My brother was born with cerebral palsy which meant that he is unable to walk. His condition inspired me to become a teacher. I grew up in an Afrikaans speaking household and only learnt to speak English when I was about 24 years old.

My own family - We moved to New Zealand in 2020. My husband’s name is Gary. He is an electrical and electronic engineer. I have 3 children. Matthew is the oldest. He is studying a Bachelor of Information & Communications Technology. Keegan is my middle child, he is studying veterinary nursing and Caitlin is the youngest. She is currently in Year 11 at Horowhenua College.

Places I have travelled to - I have been in Paris and I have seen the Eiffel tower and the Notradamme cathedral. I have been in England and saw Buckingham Palace. I stayed in Malaysia for a year. We stayed at the Sucasa Hotel apartments in Kuala Lumpur. We watched them build the Petronas towers during our stay there. It is a 88-storey supertall skyscraper, standing at 451.9 metres.  It was extremely hot and humid and there is a mix of so many different cultures. but we learnt so much and met many amazing people.

Books I've read: Circles in a forest and Fiela’s child - written by Daleen Matthee