It takes a village to raise a child.

“Today I’m an amazing, talented and driven young woman because I received relevant guidance. It all began when I was appointed a mentor whom later became my second mother. Who knew an hour of mentorship every fortnight could build such a strong bond? Like I always tell my mentor “you’ll never understand how much of a great help you’re to me.”

My mentor is what I call one of the constant people in my life and it’s been a great pleasure to have her as part of my journey to self-discovery.

It’ll be remiss to not thank my mentor for sharing valuable skills with me alongside instilling values in me. Skills and values I’ll forever embrace. I pride myself with these words “I’m a product of a valuable member of the society.” I’m a package I refer to as “The signature sauce of Masego’s Melting Moment Cookie.” Yes, I’m that great and I know it because I learned from the best. However, this didn’t happen overnight.

The best part of it all is that I’m now the best version of myself. I choose not to be defined by the violence or poor living conditions of my community. I’m a unique individual who was fortunate enough to never let her talent and brilliance go to waste by taking the advice I was given. And I hope someday I’ll be twice as great as my mentor.

Even though I was a nag at times, my mentor was and is still patient with my timidness. It’s her patience in nurturing me that made me strive to do more to be more. I realized she saw potential in me and I took that as a compliment. I believe someday she’ll see where her effortful energy has gone to.

If during one of these days you wonder where all your hard work has gone to, remember that change doesn’t happen overnight. It took me seven years to hone and define Masego’s signature sauce and it’s still under construction.”