Caitlyn and baby Nevaeh
“I am excited and looking forward to my graduation day. I would love to teach computers’ subjects and information processing at a TVET College, and especially Dower Campus College.
"My fellow peers in the community really need access to these faculties but they feel discouraged because they don't have enough motivation.
“Seeing a coloured girl from their community following her dreams and reaching for the stars, will give them that extra push to keep going and see the light at the end of the tunnel. I love teaching!
Caitlyn, 24, has a Management Assistant National Diploma and Certificate, and was so excited in April 2023 to apply to study the next year.
In September that year, however, she found out that she was five weeks pregnant, and her world came crushing down because a baby was never part of her plans, she said.
After being accepted, January 2024 came, she was five months pregnant and went to register on campus. “Outside the registration venue I noticed that I was the only pregnant girl around; I felt so ashamed, but I still managed to push through”, she said.
Classes started in February, and she was working at Easy Pay Cleary Park six days a week and studying full-time. She attended class one week on a Monday and the next on a Friday, as her work schedule did not allow for two days off a week.
“So, I had to juggle between lectures and ask my classmates to inform me of anything important that I might miss when I was not there. That worked fairly well.
She went on maternity leave at the end of March and had to return to work on 1 August; but her Teaching Practical started at Dower College and she had to complete her 40 days to pass. She had to resign in July and focus on her studies full-time.
She gave birth in April and went back to class one week after her emergency C-section.
“My daughter’s name is Nevaeh Nova De Beer; Nevaeh means "heaven" spelt backwards and Nova means something "new". She just turned one-year-old on 14 April this year.
Caitlyn’s neighbour looked after Nevaeh when she was at College some days and attended class on South Campus. Returning at 4 or 5pm in the afternoon, she would first attend to Nevaeh before doing anything else. “I can still remember the nights we both used to sit up and write my 3000-word essays,” she says.
This year she started working at Sasko bread bakery, known as Pioneer Foods, in March.
“Words of encouragement to anyone out there that feels that their life has come to an end when those pink stripes appear on the pregnancy test.
“Motherhood isn't easy, but you will find your way around it and feel proud of how far you have come when you see how beautiful your child has grown. The looks and stares may make you feel ashamed, but it will blow over, flaunt that pregnant body it's a blessing to carry a child. That child was sent to you for a reason. God would never put something on your path He knows you can't handle, Caitlyn says.