In l950, I was in my final year at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Our junior lecturer in chemical engineering was Dawie Schoeman, an excellent teacher, who inspired his students to love their chosen profession. He would hand out back issues of chemical engineering journals for us to read.

One of the journals he gave me was from England. The advertisement on the cover was from a firm of chemical engineering contractors. This was my particular interest and I said wistfully to Mr Schoeman, "It's my dream to one day work for a firm like that."

"So?" he said, tapping the page with a decisive finger. "There's their address, write to them and ask for a job."

"What, me? But I'm only a student!" I protested.

"All they can do is say 'no'. Write to them . . . now!"

After a bit more prodding, I finally wrote to the company. To my astonishment – and a touch of horror – they accepted me as a pupil engineer.

Then followed a two-year course in England where, at various sites around the country, I was trained in all aspects of chemical engineering.

While in England, I got to know the Youth Hostels Association (YHA). This network of hostels, all over the UK and Europe, offered cheap overnight travel accommodation, requiring that guests helped with the household chores. I did wonderful cycling tours of southeast England and the Isle of Wight. When I returned home early in 1953, I saw a newspaper article about a meeting that was being held in Johannesburg to start a branch of the YHA in South Africa. This really excited me, so I went to the meeting.

I lived in Germiston and the organisers suggested that I get in touch with a young woman in Benoni, who was keen to start a branch on the East Rand. "Go and see her, because she needs help. And by the way, you won't be disappointed!" they said. So, I borrowed my dad's old Chev truck and went to Benoni to meet her. They were right, I wasn't disappointed. Her name was Jenn, and together we gathered a group of enthusiasts and started a local branch of the YHA.

I became the East Rand Chairman and Jenn was the Secretary. Most of our work, though, was with the national group. Together with the Johannesburg members, we found and renovated old houses, turning them into youth hostels. Jenn, an artist, designed the logo, badge and membership card. I drew up the national constitution. We helped the YHA to become a vigorous organisation, with many regional branches.

I suppose it was inevitable: Jenn and I fell in love and were married the following year – 1954. She claims she fell for me when she saw me cleaning a toilet at the first hostel we renovated. My Waterloo!

We're still happily married, with three grown-up children and seven grandchildren . . . and we're proud of our new grandson-in-law.

And all this – plus a successful career – because of one letter I reluctantly wrote at Mr Schoeman's urging in 1950.

Was that the complete circle? No, there's a finale. More than 30 years after I wrote that triggering letter, in the 1980s, I enroled as a post-graduate student at the University of Pretoria.

I graduated with my doctorate in 1986 and, in the crowded hall, took my turn on the stage. In front of the applauding audience, I was capped by the Dean of Engineering, Professor Dawie Schoeman.
Circle complete.

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