I had moved to Durban from Port Elizabeth in grade 5 and when grade 7 rolled around and we had to choose a high school, I chose Kloof.
Most of my friends were going to a different high school, but I wanted to go to Kloof because my older cousin would be in Matric the year I was going to be in grade 8, and he could “protect me”. A few months later I found out that he was moving back to our hometown and I would be going into Grade 8 with no protector at all and would once again be the new girl.
I look back now and see that this was one of the best things that could have happened to me. It allowed me to find my own feet and make my own name in some of the most important years of my life.
Kloof High encouraged us to play sport, as well as focus on our academics to have a good balance. This was where my priorities and time management in life slowly developed. I played sport every term for my entire high school career and had practice every day until 5/6 pm. My dad would sometimes “forget” to fetch me from practice, but I would eventually make it home to still do homework. Saturday mornings were also dedicated to matches, and although I hated waking up early then, if I wake up early on a crisp morning now, I am reminded of astroturf and Energade. Suddenly all the laps around the field did not seem so bad and for a second, I think I could do it all again.
I made 1st team Hockey in grade 11, 1st team Soccer in grade 10, and captained the side in my matric year. I was also made a prefect and matriculated with 4 distinctions – not in math’s though, so sorry Mrs Janssens.
None of this would have been possible without incredible teachers, as well as coaches that Kloof High had made available to us, most of the past pupils too. My wonderful English teacher, Mrs Baker, my art teacher Mrs Rams and my coaches, Sofi and Andy. You all shaped my life in some small way. From getting me over my fear of public speaking, telling me to re-do artworks that weren’t up to standard, or igniting a very competitive and strong-headed young woman that will do a “men’s” push up and still hates burpees.
With this incredible foundation I received at Kloof High, I went on to study a degree in Jewellery Design and Manufacture at the Durban University of Technology. I received a bursary every year because of my results and graduated Cum Laude with the Deans Merit Award for coming first in my department. I was also top 10 in the country for AngloPlat, a Platinum design and manufacturing competition, as well as winning the Thuthuka Jewellery Competition in 2017. Last year I started my own jewellery design and manufacturing business, and I am now living in Utah USA with my husband, where I am doing a marketing internship.
It feels quite weird to list achievements, but the difference is, the friends I made and my fellow classmates have all done incredible things in their lives and now live all over the world, so I am definitely not the exception. We have lawyers, artists, accountants, doctors, physios, moms, dads, and just all-round wonderful people, and that is only the class of 2012.
There is an automatic pride instilled in you as a Kloof High student. This could come from your academics, the sports field or just the friends and memories made. I know I still get a little tinge of excitement if I know its Derby Day weekend – most likely because we spent most of our grade 8 breaks in the Indoor Centre practicing war cries until they were flawless. Reading all the stories from the past pupils has given me that same tinge of excitement, and it shows that this pride surpasses age and geographical locations. We all belong to something bigger than us.
I was in grade 10 when we had to stand in the boiling sun, on the field in the shape of a giant 50, and now Kloof High School is 60!
Thank you for the memories.
You will always have a spot in my heart.
Danica Fisher (née Davies) – Class of 2012
