By Nqobile Thwala
I am the first-generation lawyer in my family. Growing up in Swaziland, where career options were limited, I was not sure what I wanted to be later on in life.
Most successful people I knew were either nurses and or teachers. After successfully completing high school with very good marks, the dilemma of deciding what to study at university started.
That was the first time; I toyed with the idea of becoming a lawyer. I did not immediately fall in love with law; it was too much theory for me. After enrolling at the University of Swaziland for a BA Law, I decided in the middle of it that I did not have the passion for it. In retrospect, it could have been that there was not enough exposure and passion around me to make the profession more exciting. After completing my BA, I took a year break working and reassessing what I wanted. I hated the job I was doing at the time, and for the first time I realized that a job was not for me and I wanted a career.
During this introspection, I realized that my passion has always been about injustices and protecting the underdog. This is when I knew law was not just an option for me, but what I was born to do. It came natural to me to defend the underdog. I then enrolled at the University of Cape Town and literally had to redo everything I had already done at the University of Swaziland.
However, this was on a totally different level. The difference was this time, I was more mature and resolute on what I and the education was also on a totally different level. I had the best lecturers, most of which are well known in the legal profession worldwide.
Because law is such a broad wanted profession, one then has to choose what to focus on. Even though my interest lies in human rights, I started in general litigation, just to gather the skills and experience and the general exposure to other kinds of law.
