To Kloof High School,
Nelson Mandela said “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.”
My years at Kloof High School were some of the best of my life. The foundation that I received at KHS laid the sturdy groundwork on which I built a life of variety, professional achievement, meaningful volunteer outreach, unimaginable adventure, eye-opening world travel, and deep gratitude.
I graduated KHS in 1993 amongst the most phenomenal of peers, many of whom I am still close friends with today. These friends, with whom I experienced the trials and tribulations of my teens, are still the ones I will call for advice, support, to shed a tear or rejoice in success. The healthy social environment at KHS forged lasting bonds that will never be broken. Although the sock tans we used to compare on the school field have long faded, the memories of our days growing up together in Kloof will last a lifetime.
After leaving KHS I traveled to Europe for a gap year, where I became a tour guide for a German tour company. Even though I already spoke fluent German from home, learning extra languages at KHS proved invaluable for this year and in many instances beyond. I used the French I had voraciously absorbed over 5 years with Mrs. Lefort to effectively communicate in France and to have a backup language when English wasn’t spoken in a given country. I loved Mrs. Lefort’s French classes and the ways she integrated trips to her husband’s French bistro once a year. Le Petit Prince is still a favorite book on my shelf. Afrikaans with Mrs. Rogers further became useful, when I traveled in the Netherlands and Belgium. In fact, my understanding of Dutch by way of Afrikaans, allowed me to act as a translator to my tour groups when we arrived at cheese and tulip farms, windmills, and other Dutch landmarks, where our hosts didn’t speak German. I am forever grateful to these two teachers, who furthered my love of languages, by teaching me to confidently and fluently master two additional languages.
Returning from Europe I attended Rhodes University and became a pharmacist, graduating cum laude, mostly due to the work ethic instilled in me since high school. Mrs. Page’s biology classes inspired me immensely to learn more about the body, how it functioned, and malfunctioned. Her plant biology helped me understand where the beginnings of medicines came from. Even when learning about xylem and phloem seemed pointless, it formed a necessary foundation to moving along in understanding plant-based remedies. Even now, 30 years later, I remember what apical buds and nodes are when I grow plants in my garden. Mrs. Grant-Stuart taught chemistry in a manner that made me want to know more. She opened my mind to the way that atoms and molecules move and how the elements of the periodic table connect to form compounds that we use as medicines. It takes a remarkable teacher to light a spark that ignites a passion for learning more about a subject. Both these women greatly impacted my choice of career, providing me with the essentials on which I expanded throughout my degree. KHS instilled in me a discipline that allowed me to win numerous national as well as international awards, and achieve goals that wouldn’t have been possible without the toolbox of talents I received from my years in Kloof.
I worked in rural areas as well as urban, but doing house calls on the sick and less fortunate in areas that didn’t even have tar roads, was a huge eye-opener for me. Reaching out to those who have nothing to give and being able to help them with their pains, illnesses and injuries was the most rewarding part of my career as a primary healthcare practitioner. Showing love and respect for others and the sense of community that was fostered in us at school taught me to treat all people with dignity, compassion, and open-mindedness.
During my years as a pharmacist, I wrote and published a book on migraines and to this, I credit English with Mr. Allen. Of all my teachers at KHS, Mr. Allen was one who really stood out. He was strict, but kept us in line, while he inspired us with the beauty of the English language. The manner in which taught English literature, writing, and grammar still stays with me to this day, when I am composing articles, posts, and letters. “Never start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’”. “Don’t use the same adjective twice in a paragraph”. It is like nails on a chalkboard to me, when I see adults misusing to, two or too. Thanks, Mr. Allen! I have had the confidence to write for numerous magazines and journals, mostly because of the incredible English knowledge base that I received in class from Mr. Allen.
In 2006 my husband and I were offered an opportunity to travel to the USA, where his family lives. Sadly this also marked the end of my professional career, as with 3 young sons, it wasn’t possible to convert my degree until it was too late. Watching my children grow and learn at American schools often brings me back to how incredible our teachers were at KHS. The caliber of education, the sports, and the teamwork at KHS are world-class. If we still lived in Kloof, I would send my children to KHS in a heartbeat. Now in retrospect, I, even more, appreciate and value simple things like uniforms, which create team spirit, a dignified appearance, and school pride. Although, as teens, we lamented the fact that our skirts were too long and we couldn’t wear jewellery and make-up, or that our nails got checked and our hair had to be tied back in regulation colours, the value of all these seemingly annoying rules, proved to be priceless. Mandatory school sports at KHS connected us with our schoolmates and helped us grow both mentally as well as physically, in comparison to the US, where sports are mostly club-based and voluntary. The boot camp we survived as prefects in 1993, is something that my boys and their peers could definitely benefit from. Prefect camp taught me unequivocally that we are stronger together, especially when the first team rugby players ended a particularly arduous obstacle course in order to preserve the dignity of those prefects, who were struggling, being less physically competent than they. KHS … you set a very high bar!
I now live close to Portland, OR with my husband and three sons. I started an art entertainment business a few years ago and although I miss my health profession, this 180 degree turn from a scientific to an entrepreneurial artistic career, is both challenging, as well as rewarding. Having the courage to start something new requires the skills that my foundations way back at high school gave me… mathematics, accounting, English writing, artistic talents, language, team-building exercises, empathy for others, and the love of teaching, by having learnt from the very best.
Throughout my very active and busy life, as a woman, mother, professional, and entrepreneur, my mind often wanders back to my school days at KHS, the teachers who inspired me on so many levels, and the lifelong friends I met there. My story is a drop in the ocean in comparison to the achievements of some of the incredibly talented people I graduated from high school with. Our 1993 matrics produced entrepreneurs, teachers, professors, lawyers, ministers, bankers, traders, farmers, CFOs, COOs, counselors, store owners, designers, architects, accountants, artists, programmers, soldiers, health care professionals, and innovators… people who add value to this world and create a positive impact on those who surround them. They are people who I am still proud to know and call friends after all these years. The ripple effect of the education we received through you, will leave a lasting legacy.
Thank you Kloof High School, for building a solid foundation for my life. I achieved because you planted the seeds.
With the warmest appreciation always,
Claire Houlding (nee Claassens)
