Shéri. Shéri Brynard

from class, Lanel Pietersen, invited Riana Venter and me to their family farm. They treated me as one of them and I did not feel “different”. It was very special. My time at the college made me very independent. Although later on most of the students and lecturers were Sotho speaking, I felt part of them and I got the impression that they accepted me. No one was ever nasty to me because of the way that I am.

      As part of my course, I had to do practical teaching at nursery schools. In 2002 I started working at Lettie Fouché to gain experience. I presented lessons using apparatus I’d made when I was studying.

      In 2009 I graduated with a National Diploma in Educare from Motheo College, and received the Ewald Fichard Special Academic Award.

      Down Syndrome South Africa awarded me its most prestigious prize, for achieving the highest academic qualification in the country by someone with Down Syndrome. The prize was presented to me by Helen Zille, premier of the Western Cape.

      The evening before my graduation ceremony, my mother threw me a cocktail party. Suzette and some of her friends played the violin, and my mom said a few words. When she proposed a toast, she added that she’d used some of her inheritance for a present for me. Then she left the room to get it.

      I could hardly wait for the surprise. The next minute, Marisa walked through the patio door. My mother had flown her home from London!

      That night, Jaco Lamprecht came to one of our special family functions for the first time. He and Suzette had just started dating.

      The graduation ceremony was a dream event. The people on stage and everyone in the City Hall in Bloemfontein gave me a standing ovation because I was the only person with Down Syndrome in South Africa to receive a national diploma. I looked at the crowd and saw my mother crying. All the hard work had paid off.