What was your favorite subject in school?
From Afrikaans to Biology, from Criminology to Psychology, every subject I loved became a stepping-stone into another version of myself.
When people ask, “What was your favourite subject in school?” they expect a simple answer, a single word, a quick drop-and-go. But for me, the answer has never been that small. My favourite subjects were not just classes on a timetable, they were chapters of my becoming. Each one arrived at the exact moment I needed it, shaping my mind, sharpening my instincts, and carving out pieces of who I would grow into.
In pre-primary and through my early school years, Afrikaans (A South African Language) and Biology were the first two subjects that captured me. Afrikaans was not just a language to learn, it was rhythm, structure, and expression. Something about its solid rules and unexpected softness made it feel like a safe space, predictable enough to master, but expressive enough to play with. Biology, on the other hand, opened the world in a different way. It showed me that life is not random. There is order, detail, connection, and meaning behind every cell, every function, every heartbeat. It was my first taste of understanding how things work, and more importantly, why they work the way they do.
Then came high school, where curiosity grew teeth. Where subjects stopped being subjects and started becoming possibilities. As I moved into campus years, that curiosity evolved into something sharper.. Criminology and Forensics. The human mind, the shadows people hide, the reasons behind what people do, that entire world fascinated me. I loved it deeply, fiercely, almost instinctively. Forensics felt like the ultimate combination of science and story, logic and instinct. But life, being life, reminded me that passion is sometimes bigger than the body that carries it. A weak stomach *giggles* can shut the door on a path you love, and mine did.
But here is the thing about purpose, when one door closes, it often leads you to the one you are actually meant to open.
So I branched into Psychology and Criminology, two subjects I ended up loving just as much, if not more. Psychology gave me the language for emotions, behavior, healing, and human complexity. Criminology gave me the framework for understanding the darker corners of the world, the hidden motives, the patterns that shape society and individuals alike. Together, they formed a lens, a way of seeing people not just for what they do, but for the story behind what shaped them.
My favourite subjects were not random selections, they were stepping-stones. Afrikaans taught me expression. Biology taught me order. Criminology taught me curiosity. Psychology taught me understanding. And together, they built the way I think, the way I feel, the way I interpret the world and the people in it.
So when asked what my favourite subject was… the truth is simple..
It was every subject that matched a different version of me.
Every subject that helped me grow into myself.
Every subject that whispered..
“This is another piece of who you are becoming.”