I am big, brave and beautiful
I WAS born on April 11, 2003, and at 4 years old, I was diagnosed with profound hearing loss.
This didn’t stop my parents, Neil and Sashnee Moodley, from creating a new normal for me.
My doctors advised my parents that I would need to attend a special needs school. However, they chose to send me to mainstream schools as they knew their daughter’s potential.
I attended Stanger Pre-Primary School and thereafter North Coast Primary from 2010 until 2016. I then attended Stanger Manor Secondary from 2017 to 2021.
My next chapter leaves choices of a career in audiology or architecture. I have partial hearing in my left ear and am deaf in my right ear.
I go about my day-to-day life wearing a hearing aid in my left ear and I have a cochlear implant.
For the last two years, I have not worn my cochlear device as I developed a hematoma which causes discomfort. I also rely on lip reading but due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the wearing of masks, I have struggled at school.
I had to do without lip reading and not the use of my cochlear implants. My struggles seemed to persist. Being a victim of bullying and criticism from an early age, I was even more driven to prove to myself that I was a winner in life.
Ever since I started school, my mantra has been: “I am Shreya Moodley. I am big, brave and beautiful.”
This phrase has been the epicentre of the storm of success that I have been creating for myself.
I completed matric and achieved 2 As, 3 Bs and 2 Cs. I stand out among the rest for my braveness and courageous mindset.
Audiology, being one of my choices, stems deeply from my personal experiences, physically, emotionally and psychologically. I feel that I can make a difference in the deaf community.
SHREYA MOODLEY Stanger (now KwaDukuza)