I have to push myself to achieve more.

I am not sure where to start with this feature article; I was asked to write about what it’s like to be a young black aspiring woman in America from South Africa. I think maybe I should start by saying what I was doing in America because for all you know, I could have been there on holiday. I have been fortunate enough that I was offered an opportunity to participate in the Texas Legislative Internship Program, which is a program that was established by Senator Rodney Ellis, from Houston Texas in 1990. The program brings together undergraduate and graduate students from other states and countries to work for 5 months in Texas on public policy matters. Texas Legislature meets every biannual year to make laws for the state. I was fortunate to have participated in the 84th Legislative Session this year. I began my internship as a Policy Associate at the Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, then I was placed as a Legislative Aide to Honourable State Representative Yvonne Davis from Dallas Texas. I also was a visiting scholar at Rice University in Houston for the semester and I had to submit a paper.

I have always been very ambitious but somehow I didn’t know what it would actually take to get to where I want to be in life. I believe in the power of storytelling because it really kept me focussed in terms of what I wanted in life, I loved hearing other people’s stories of their journey to success. What motivates me and what drives me is wanting to achieve my own level of success and use it as a platform to tell my story so that I could help inspire someone else out there. I believe so much in the power that people possess within themselves, that I want to ignite that. I want to see more people achieving their goals.

Working in America has been a blessing that I didn’t expect at the age of 25, it’s certainly wasn’t easy, but I am sure that everyone knows that nothing comes easy in life. I never felt that I was less because I am a woman or that I had to work harder because of my gender but I must emphasise that I worked for women and most of my office staff were women. I constantly surround myself with powerful women, who are successful in their various ways. Even when I left University, I worked for a female owned investment company. I would actually say that I am very comfortable in my womanhood and I have never actually felt that I had to justify being a woman. I believe that how you feel in any environment depends on your perception of self and the people that you surround yourself with.

In terms of race, I did feel that I was black but it’s understandable because when you look at the demographics in America, blacks are a minority in comparison to South Africa. I did encounter situations that maybe perceived as racist but it never defined my experience. I was also very consciously aware of my own identity there because of the current racial climate there. I had a phenomenal but challenging experience.

All the work that I was doing there, was mostly work that I had never done before, I had to understand the legal structure and the rules of the Texas legislature. In actual fact, I would say that this opportunity has been one of the most challenging things in my life because I had to know a lot of things about Texas within a 5 month period. I had to split my attention amongst many areas; speaking to constituents, research, meeting advocacy groups and monitoring what is happening on the Texas house. I would certainly do it again now that I know what to anticipate, maybe in 2017 for the 85th Legislative Session.

I do believe that America is a land of opportunities and endless possibilities. I certainly have plans to go back there soon. I do think it’s challenging to be black and female anywhere around the world. Just because I never encountered situations that made me feel that I had to work harder because I am woman does not mean such cases are not out there. There was an equal pay bill in the Texas house and some of the Republicans voted against it. In this day and age, you would think men would realise that woman are capable and deserving to get equal pay to their male counterparts. We may not have the physical structure but more and more woman are educated and intelligent and are heads of households. I am a strong advocate for women empowerment because I think women are not taken seriously enough, they underestimated in society. There certainly is a glass ceiling that faces many ambitious women in society. It is the same glass ceiling that faces black people and that faces young people.

I think it’s important to put my experience in context, I was not there to compete with anybody but myself, I understood that I was only there for a session, and I was working for government. Maybe my experience would have been different if I was working for the private sector and my job had permanency. I also felt though, that people in Texas loved South Africa, they were fascinated by my accent and heritage and wanted to know more about me or tell me about their experiences in my country. It made my interaction and experience very different to the ordinary black woman.

I wouldn’t trade my time Texas for anything, I made wonderful friends, and I was surrounded by very influential and powerful people. America showed me the world of possibility that is out there. It made me realise that my own dreams are small because there is so much that I can achieve. It made me comfortable to discuss issues that in society we normally shy away from, such as race and identity. It redefined my notion of success. Usually we think that success is attaining material things but it’s actually about inner contentment, it’s about enjoying the journey rather than waiting to only celebrate when you have reached the destination.

So, where to from here. I think people don’t realise the pressure that comes with such a platform, it means that I have to push myself to achieve more, I have high expectations for myself and I know other people are also watching me to see what’s next. I really am passionate about advocating for workers’ rights, tackling race issues and opportunities, women rights and empowerment. I am really passionate about changing the story the black child in South Africa. I haven’t decided how I will approach these issues. I also see myself returning to America to pursue my postgraduate studies in the near future.