FEMALE HUSTLER ARTICLE AUGUST 2017 ABOUT MS. RETHA SEWE
RETHA SEWE
THE PHENOMENAL
SPORTS PROFESSIONAL
Ms. Retha Sewe is a 27-year-old lady from a small town called Hennenman in the Free State province. An identical twin who shares most of her life memories with her very own twin sister. She is currently a School Sports Promotional Officer and her duties are to promote school sports mass participation within the Fezile Dabi district by supporting local district school’s sports structures. She is a 2012 Sports Science Degree graduate from the University of Pretoria. In 2009 she enrolled for her second degree with Global University of Lifelong Learning (GULL) based in California, USA and completed it in 2013. In 2011, she traveled to Barry University in Miami and attended her 6 months Summer school. After the completion of her Sports Science Degree, she decided to take a leap of faith and applied for her Master’s Degree in Business of Sport at Griffith University in Australia. It turned out to be a success as she became a Master’s Degree graduate in the year 2014.
Retha adored most of her high school years as it gave her the opportunity to participate in as many sports activities in which she is passionate about. With Retha being a buzzy bee, she took advantage of every activity opportunity that was offered at her high school. Retha and her twin sister attended an Afrikaans boarding school that exposed her to challenges that have shaped the woman she is today. The challenges she faced has taught Retha a few life lessons that, “no matter how educated you are or how well you speak English, if you can’t stand up for what is right then it all means nothing. You should never fight hate with hate, sometimes showing compassion and love can stop the spread of negativity”.
Tennis has always been her escapism and heaven. Throughout the years she played tennis, she learned a lot about who she is, as her tennis career gave her the opportunity to travel around the world. Retha quotes: “Through tennis, I was someone who was on top of their world. I was great and I knew it’’.
She knew this because she spent over 8 hours training over weekends and over 5 hours on a week day every single day. She trained until every ounce of her body hurt. She trained until she cried from either the weather feeling sweltering hot or ice cold, practice was practice for Retha. She was top 6 of the Provincial ranking and top 200 in the National ranking. Retha had proudly represented South Africa at the age of 13.
Being a black girl in such an expensive sport meant that her parents had to live below the bread line so that both Retha and her twin sister could have everything they needed. Retha shares a profound memory of hers about when her takkies had holes at the bottom. The thought of her telling her parents about her torn shoes made her feel uncomfortable as she knew that they had spent their last money on her tournaments and traveling expenses. Whenever she played tennis she would feel the burn under her feet and she would sometimes put cardboard so that she would not get blisters from playing. She played with those takkies until her toes would show, but that never stopped her from being number one.
The other students would look at her with merciful eyes, but Retha endured and placed ice under her feet every night to reduce the swelling of her burnt feet. She strongly believed that she was great and she knew it. Retha believed if she kept telling herself that, eventually everyone would stop focussing on her torn shoes and see what she can do when she plays inside the tennis court.
Retha learned many things about life the hard way, that not everyone will like you and you should be okay with that. She had faced a fair share of people who are not fond her because of the lifestyle she lives, the way she carries herself and even solely on the way she speaks. After she drew herself to the working environment she learned that people are different and your success does not make you anything if you are not kind and forgiving. With all her work experiences, she already feels that she has gained a lifetime of work experience for her age. She had her first paying job during the time she was a student as a desk tournament organizer for the Tennis Championships over the Summer holidays in 2009. In 2010 as part of her tennis practices, Retha applied to be a tennis coach at various schools. In the year 2012 after the completion of her Sports Science Degree, she moved to Bloemfontein to work as a Sports Scientist.
During her time studying in Australia, Retha worked as a Tennis coach at a private school. She also worked as a tutor for English and Math classes. Upon her return to South Africa, Retha relocated to Sasolburg to work as a School Sports Promotional Officer for the Department of Sport, Arts, Culture, and Recreation. She is one woman who does not only focusses on her career, she also makes time for volunteering duties occasionally. In the past, she joined an organization that helped incorporate sport in communities in Miami. She then joined “Fun Fit Friday” where she became an ambassador for the organization. In Australia, she volunteered at the “Smith Family” where she helped school kids with their homework. Retha volunteered to work with the Griffith University Gold Coast campus international student board, she volunteered at the “Neon run” and she also volunteered her time at the “Gold Coast Marathon” that is held every year in Australia. Retha’s creative ways have led her and her friends to create an amazing sports program that accommodates differently abled people, that is called PLAY TIME. A program that was established to incorporate education and the role of sport in the well -being of individuals and development of character.
Her faith and belief in God have been her number one motivation that has kept her going throughout her hardships in life. Retha refers to her struggles as a million-paged book if she were to go into detail of what all her struggles were and believes that God has been there for her all those million-paged stories of her life.
Retha: No one truly understands why I owe my life to God. If you had to walk in my shoes, you would see that I don’t deserve the life I live. But yet God has been merciful and Blessed me with it. You would see that God knew that it would weigh heavily on my shoulders, so he gave me a life partner, my twin sister. That is why I never underestimate the power of God and I also feel so sorry for those who hurt me because they really don’t understand that my Father is the King of all Kings and I am his daughter.
When you hurt me, you hurt my Father.
Her second support system is her twin sister and believes that having someone with you all the days of your life is something incredibly special. Throughout her dark days, she shared her light with her twin sister. Throughout her training days, her twin sister has shared an umbrella with her. Her twin has pushed her to be the person she could be and Retha feels more than blessed to have her twin sister in her life. Retha is one of those people who value friendship and loves to invest in friendships. Her closest friends have been with her through some hardship that she has experienced and they have never left her since. Through her friendships she has learned an important lesson that life’s deepest meaning is not found in accomplishments, but actually in relationships.
She is empowered to keep hustling for her career success and future. She does not believe in doing things for the now but believes in doing things for the investment of her future. Retha has reached a point in her life to be able to give back to her parents for the efforts they have sacrificed for them. She is inspired by her mother as she has been a visible inspiration in her life. She is the reason for the life Retha is blessed with today. Retha comes from a middle-class family who was comfortable more times than they were in a crisis. She is honored by her mother’s unmeasurable support as her mother always put their interest above her own.
Retha: If there is one woman who knows how to budget and be very vigilant on her financial status, I take my hat off to that woman. I’m truly honored to call her mom.
There are a lot of challenges that she continues to face especially being a black woman in the sport industry. People continue to view her as a threat, it is not only visible among the men, but also amongst woman as well. Whenever Retha recognizes jealousy amongst women it immobilizes her on how we as woman fail to uplift each other. That we could instead celebrate one another.
Retha: We are in a male dominated culture and us as woman need to start paying attention in where we invest our negativity. If we could only change our mentality, we would change the most part of it.
Her greatest achievements are obtaining her degrees just like her mother did, fortunately for her, it was at the age of 24. Graduation was the most emotional moment of her life because it was then she realized that she finally did it.
Retha is a young woman who loves the small moments of life that contribute to the big moments. She is a child of God and a person who loves everyone else just like her own sibling. She loves being alive and being able to experience emotions at its best let it being love, sadness, fear, and anger. All the emotions that have been carefully crafted to build the person that she is today. She is grateful for all the challenges she has faced in life as those challenges have taught her so much about who Retha is and what she can handle as a person.
A message to the readers by Retha:
Never let anyone tell you that you are not qualified, not strong enough, not old enough to do whatever you set your mind to do. You are all you got, and if you let your mind be clouded, you really let your whole world down. I may not know your story, but I know that you have a choice as to how your story unfolds. Yes, it’s hard, but you are a winner and I promise you this. If you allow God into your life, into your mess and you believe with your whole heart and soul that he will see you through, then I promise you that you will come out as a totally transformed and changed person. No matter what you face, you will know that you are not alone. The presence of God will not always fix your problems, but it will clarify your perspective.
Motto:
The entire water of the sea cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, negativity/hardship of the world cannot put you down unless you allow it to get inside of you.
Thank you, Ms. Retha Sewe for sharing your amazing life journey with us at E- Articles. Your life story is amazing and we wish you the best for your future endeavors.
…and remember to keep on hustling
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