Vee Kativhu - Empowered: Live Your Life with Passion and Purpose

Girl Up Zimbabwe Ambassador, Global University Outreach Manager at One Young World and founder of Empowered by Vee, Vee Kativhu is an education activist and empowerment YouTuber, spreading her message of education, equal access and opportunity, and empowerment to a global audience of over 300,000. At the age of twenty-three, Vee had been named a Diana Award Recipient, LinkedIn Changemaker, United Kingdom Rare Rising Star, United World Schools Ambassador, Social Mobility Foundation Ambassador and a recipient of the Vice Chancellors Diversity Champion Award. Vees empowering journey of education, attaining a Bachelors degree in History from Oxford University and a Masters degree in International Education Policy from Harvard, has earned her praise from the likes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as well as features in The Times and The Guardian.

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First published by Square Peg in 2021

Text copyright Varaidzo Kativhu 2021

Designed by Nikki Ellis

The moral right of the author has been asserted

Cover design by Kishan Rajani

ISBN: 978-1-473-59568-2

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DEDICATED TO MY BEAUTIFUL MOTHER, LOVENESS AND MY GUARDIAN ANGEL, MY FATHER, BRIGHTON KATIVHU.

Throughout this book, the topic of self-empowerment is referenced constantly. Sometimes I forget I need to define the term because it looks different for everyone. For me, self-empowerment is the truest form of self-love. It is the act of ensuring, to the best of your ability, that you are leading a life where you feel in control, in charge of your happiness and the author of your own narrative. It is the act of pursuing your dreams, peace, and everything in between.

Self-empowerment can come in different shapes and sizes: for some people it can be the act of attending a gender pay gap protest, while for others it can be the art of learning to say no and setting better boundaries. The beauty of self-empowerment is that it revolves around the individual and their needs and desires. It centres on you and its something that comes from within. It shouldnt be controlled by anyone else. For me, self-empowerment has now become a lifestyle. I explore all possibilities, take risks, and always bet on myself.

My deepest and truest form of self-empowerment comes from education, experiences, and opportunities. My education has given me a voice and helped me find my true passion: helping others. Its granted me access to learn about the lives of people around the world and the skills and tools I need to help fight for educational equality for other young women across the globe. My self-empowerment journey has led me down a path of curiosity and armed me with the most powerful tool of all: knowledge. Something that nobody can ever take away from me.

Self-empowerment hasnt always been easy for me, and up until now, its safe to say my life has been a rollercoaster, full of bumps, twists, and many turns. I figured, whilst Im still young and have the time, I should write down my thoughts and document the events that have occurred in my life so far, in the hope that my story might encourage others to pursue their own dreams and ambitions. I decided to share my journey a few years ago, after I realised my story carries not only power, but acts as a source of hope and encouragement for others. I wanted to tell my own story because the narratives associated with young people are so often shaped or moulded in a discouraging or unrepresentative light. Were stereotyped and placed in boxes that dont show what we really stand for and, as a consequence, sweeping generalisations about our identities are made.

My purpose in writing this book is not to showcase myself, rather it is the recognition that I have struggled; however in that struggle, I have learned many lessons that have helped me overcome the moments of hardship that I never thought I would. My hope is that by sharing my journey, it may be helpful or beneficial to others in similar or somewhat relatable situations. The eleven chapters in this book will cover topics such as how to find your purpose, how to deal with rejection and imposter syndrome, and how to set life goals and lean on others for support. It will cover practical things like how to handle your money, build more empowering relationships and find growth in experiences you may hate. These chapters will also delve more deeply into my own life, some of the difficulties I have faced and how I took those lemons and made them into (delicious) lemonade. I want this book to speak to young people and those who come from a similar background to myself, but I also hope that itll be used for self-reflection, motivation, and empowerment by many others. I recognise that my story isnt entirely unique, but thats why Im eager to share it. I know many of you reading this will relate and I hope that this will shine a light on the real lives that so many of us lead, but dont often see written about. Those of us who come from working-class, single-parent households. Those of us who have migrated to new countries and learned new languages. Those of us for whom the journey has not been easy whether due to lack of finances, resources, opportunities or, often, love. My book represents the many, not the few. I want everyone who reads this to close the final chapter and no longer feel alone. I want those who read this to encourage, support, and empower themselves and others around them.

Since embarking on my journey of self-empowerment and putting myself out there on the internet, Ive learned a lot about myself. Ive begun to understand my emotions more deeply and, as a result, adapted and improved my methods of coping. Before this I was guilty of self-indulging in my negative emotions, questioning why bad things happened to me. Id wear my emotions anger, self-pity, sadness on my sleeve. Rather than feeling sad, I would become sad. By this, I mean I would talk sad, think sad, walk sad, act sad you get the gist. Rather than momentarily allowing the emotion to pass, I allowed the feeling to become permanent and to consume me. Id question things for days on end, wondering how bad things could happen to good people, why God hadnt given me a chance to be happy when I was just an innocent child trying to survive life. I felt almost constantly demoralised, and despite physically having my mother and sister in my life, I still felt alone and abandoned with my thoughts.