A 17-year-old matric schoolboy at Jeppe Boys' High School in 1981 wrote in an essay: "My greatest dream is to play rugby especially for the Springboks. But even to become their coach."
Twenty-six years later that essay, by Jake White, now the World Cup-winning Bok coach, is inspiring a younger generation to follow their dreams. It surfaced this week at another Johannesburg school, Saheti, where Daniela Pitt, his English teacher at Jeppe in 1981, is the director of academics.
"I used his essay as part of a speech for our matriculants at their prizegiving," said Pitt. "The forceful message of aspiring a dream, I felt, could not be put more aptly than in Jake's essay - and obviously at such an appropriate time. His sincerity and passion speak for themselves."
The main part of the essay, edited by Pitt, reads: "My Dreams. What happens if I don't write like the others? Will I do badly? What am I going to write about? This essay has to be 2 pages long and I do not know what to write. Actually, I'm going to write my real story. Well, here goes.
"I have a big dream and that is rugby. I have felt so much pride wearing the No 2 Jeppe rugby jersey. I had to work hard to get it and at times my muscles ached and our coach pushed me really hard. He made me feel that I could carry on.
"Some of my friends didn't make the team, but I continued.
"Soon our team started winning, game after game. When I walked on stage to receive my awards, I actually wanted to cry, I felt so fantastic. I saw the Standard 6s looking up at me and I wanted to say, 'Hey guys, you can do it too!'
"What are my dreams for the future? My greatest dream is to play rugby, especially for the Springboks. But even to become their coach. I have seen how you can make people believe in themselves, how you can show people that every single person can be a winner if you want it.
"The secret is not being part of a large pack - just be yourself and run like crazy. That feeling of success is like no other. So I am going to continue to dream. If I make it, it will make me the happiest in the world. Imagine playing on an international field and winning? That's another essay altogether."
Pitt requested that White give permission for the essay to be published before she would release it, so The Sunday Independent, through rugby writer Kevin McCallum, asked White in Paris for his okay.
McCallum's response was: " just spoke to Jake and he has no problem with you using the essay. He only asks that we improve the English and get him a better mark."
Pitt could not remember how much she had given White for his essay. "But I kept it, so it couldn't have been a bad mark," she said. "I often keep essays of pupils and keep them for class discussion. I decided to keep Jake's essay years ago, when I found it among other essays that I had filed. We knew that he would make it. He was a bright kid."