Tess Chauke
I was 21 years old when I decided to pursue quantity surveying, and I would not say I got inspired to go into this field because it came as a rescue course from my initial career choice. Before pursuing quantity surveying, I studied medicine at University of Cape Town (UCT) for 2 years which I did not enjoy at all and I struggled to the core. I switched to study speech therapy for a year which was a lot easier and smoother but I realised that I am not built for the health field in general. I then did a self-introspection to figure out which field I would be happiest in, a field that would be numerical and analytical; quantity surveying came top of the list and I went to pursue that at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). During my time at UCT I was involved in a couple of leadership roles, and they contributed a lot to my journey & finding my purpose. I was 21 years old when I started at CPUT, when my entrepreneurial brain got picked. Being in a space that gave me free time to explore more of my talents and skills birthed my creativity. I took on part time jobs to fill my weekend calendar. I worked for a rugby filming company, did promotions on campus and later started an assignment typing side business for some postgraduate students. From all that , I can say my whole career journey, the downfalls and career switches got me to where I am today.
I got a lot of support from my family, friends and my lecturers throughout my journey. With all the little decisions I was making throughout , I was seeking advice and second opinion from either a family member, a friend or one of my lecturers.
Having to move from one faculty to another trying to find my purpose was the biggest challenge throughout my journey.
What has been your biggest driver/motivator?
My biggest motivator is to always be a better version of myself every single day, through the struggles and the successes. I want the next generation that is looking up to me to know that it is okay to fail and that sometimes failure is there to lead you and redirect you to where you need to be.
As a top student throughout primary and high school, I always thought I was guaranteed a smooth career path. I was under the assumption that any career that I find myself in, I will be happy with it, and throughout my journey I got to learn that it does not work like that. One day you can be up there, and the next you can be down and out, but it’s not the end of the world, that is life and life will always go on and you can either let your downfalls knock you out or take the downfalls as lessons to lead you back up.
I will give them advice that I wish I had during my high school years, to not only focus on getting good grades in the subjects that they are formally taking in school. But to also groom their other talents because not everyone is meant to become a doctor or a lawyer. Some people have to become the best soccer players, the best singers, the best runners etc. Life has more to offer for everyone and we can only discover all of that through opening ourselves to those opportunities and not being boxed up into one thing. I will also advise them to also take part in job shadowing during school holidays across the different fields of interest to get a feel of what a day in the life of being in that field looks like. Lastly, do not let your surrounding limit you, start where you are with what you have and use that to get where you want to be. Be curious and lear, ask and seek for answers from those who have already walked the path that you want to go into.