My Career

In kindergarten, my class was asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I drew a picture of an army and that was what I wanted to be. To this day my parents won’t let me forget that out of everything I could have aspired to be, I wished to be an army.

I remember looking down the line and seeing pictures of ballerinas dancing, firefighters putting out a blaze, and astronauts leaping across the moon – careers that were seen as typical dreams of five-year-olds.

When we are young, questions of what we want to be when we grow up are common. Yet we are not expected to respond with an answer that is likely to come true. However, when we become teens, we are asked the very same question twice as often. The difference is, now we are supposed to ­answer with confidence.

Teens are expected to know exactly what we want to be and how we are going to achieve that goal. Not all of us can be so sure. How am I supposed to know what I will want to spend my time doing at age 40?

When I think about the future, I definitely don’t see myself as an army, but in reality, At the moment I feel happy when I am on the farm in nature surrounded by wildlife. I like the adrenalin when you sit in a hide and wait for the right antelope, or spore track in the veld. Professional hunting is not just about hunting animals but being a true conservator with sound knowledge and ethics of the environment, fire-arms and ammunition. A professional hunter must also have good marksmanship. At the moment it will make me happy to become a professional hunter.

So, the next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up, I will simply say “happy.” Happiness is a destination for everyone. We may want to walk different paths in life, but we all want to be happy wherever we end up. Choose your path, but don’t worry too much about choosing wisely. Make a ­mistake or two and try new things. But ­always remember, if you’re not happy, you’re not at the end of your journey yet.