A new home, a new sport

Moving halfway across the world to live in a new country, speak a different language, is not an easy task. Leaving the home you grew up in, leaving the family and friends who have been in your life for as long as you can remember, leaving the familiarities that have served as comforts for you all these years is daunting and frightening.

Zanelle Willemse, a sophomore at Homestead, made the move from South Africa at the young age of 13. Adjusting to a new language and a new culture is a tough journey, but Willemse found a solution to deal with the hardships she was facing.

Her entire extended family remains back in South Africa, only Zanelle, her mother, father and sister, moved to the United States. “Every Sunday we would have family dinners, every birthday, every holiday, we spent together. Now coming to a new country, we don’t have that family to lean on anymore because they’re so far away,” said Willemse.

Moving in early August at the age of 13, Willemse had already formulated a plan regarding adjusting to the hard move. When visiting Mequon in early June to sort out the odds and ends of moving, Zanelle caught sight of her future. “I remember driving and all of a sudden the Homestead Track Team runs by. It was so different for me to see that because in South Africa we don’t have teams,” said Willemse. “I knew that I wanted to be part of that.”

After returning to South Africa, Willemse was on a mission. She began to run every single day and continued to run when she moved in August. “Running was an escape for me. It helped me a lot before, during, and after, the move,” said Willemse.

Learning and adapting to a second language proved to be a challenge for Willemse. Although English was taught to her in second grade, the words they learned were simple like “cat,” “dog,” “yes,” and “no.” When she came to the United States, Willemse limited herself to “super vague and super short sentences.” She was shy because “whenever [she] would try to speak or ask questions, [she] would have to think really hard of what [she] wanted to say because [she] didn’t speak the language fluently.”

The August before her freshman year, Willemse tried out for the Homestead Cross Country team. Little did she know of the friendships and memories that would be made during her time on the team. Zanelle’s hardworking ethic shone through right away, “Zanelle is amazing because she competes so well and tries her best at everything she does,” said Maddie Powell, senior.

Running “became my outlet because everyone knew everyone so for me coming in and training really hard prior to freshman year allowed for me to get to know others,” said Willemse. Finally she felt like she had found her place.

Willemse and her 4 by 800 meters relay team consisting of herself, Allie Levin, junior, Katie Wegmann, junior, and Powell finished 5th at state.

“Zanelle adds to the zany dynamic of the team. Together, we hold each other accountable to do our bests,” said Levin.

Now, at the end of sophomore year, “All of my friends come from running. We are so compatible. We finish each other’s sentences. We are the same people,” said Willemse.

A new country. A new school. A new sport. A new family.