Arriving in Cape Town as a young man brimming with academic success and big dreams, he thought he had his path laid out. However, life’s unexpected curveballs came in the form of severe mental health struggles that almost pushed him to give up on everything he’d ever dream of… but this story is about how he didn’t.
Cape Town, South Africa (18 July 2025) – This beautiful thing called life has a crazy way of throwing the most unexpected curveballs our way, oftentimes when we feel like we finally have it all figured out.
Kekeletso Tshepo Nooe recalls being a young boy who once arrived in Cape Town with nothing but big dreams after scoring five distinctions and making the top 100 learners provincially in his matric year.
“He thought he had it all figured out,” Kekeletso thinks back in a post.
Kekeletso went on to study at the University of Cape Town, where he did well academically, even tutoring first, second and third-year Economics and Econometrics students.
“What he didn’t know, though, was that he would take five years to finish a three-year degree due to mental health problems.”
Kekeletso was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder, ADHD and Anxiety and tried countless medications that never seemed to work.
He found himself pushed to the brink of giving up and retreated home, where he would go on to stay for almost a year, trying to figure out where to go next.
But because Kekeletso is a Matthew 9:29 person, believing that “because of your faith it will happen” – as he puts it, he one day got a call to work in Cape Town. This would see him later secure an interview with one of the biggest investment firms on the continent and get a job that would have him finally say:
“I’m a professional in the investment field.”
Looking back on the detour his life took and the unexpected challenges, Kekeletso says he is glad he didn’t give up on his dreams and fought for the life he always knew was meant for him.
“It becomes hard, tricky, unpredictable, but whatever you do, fight to finish your qualification. Fight to stay alive, because one day you could wake up and things would have taken a turn for the better,” he encourages.
Sources: Kekeletso Tshepo Nooe
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