By Karla Cloete
Edited by Tasmiyah Randeree & Imaan Moosa
In a volatile and sometimes unstable era of work Dr. Glenda Hicks shows that making a big career change at any age can change your life
Dr. Glenda Hicks is an 84-year-old practising counseller as well as an educational psychologist and sex therapist. She grew up in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. A mother of three daughters with four grandchildren, she is the picture of what it means to be a life-long learner.
Hicks has been in private psychological practice for 44 years, specialising in family therapy, conflict management, divorce mediation and hypnosis. This was not always the plan.
She grew up in a happy, stable home with two teetotaller parents. Her Scottish descendent Presbyterian father was a disciplinarian whom she adored. She was an only child for 12 years.
In her youth, she attended the exclusive private school Durban Girls’ College until her father placed her in the government girls' school in Somerset East where today her name is on the 1954 Honours Board in the Gill College museum. Initially, she had difficulty adapting to an Afrikaans medium boarding school; she was not allowed to go home for six months at a time.
At 15, her dream of becoming an occupational therapist was born, ignited by her fascination of medical science.
Dr. Glenda Hicks, her husband, her brother and his wife. Source: Provided.
She performed excellently in school, although at the time Hicks was unaware she was dyslexic and that the condition is intergenerational. Her father sent back her letters correcting her grammar. Still, she thrived academically.
When she and her husband relocated to Johannesburg, Hicks pursued occupational therapy at the University of the Witwatersrand.
While her husband went on to pursue his studies, Hicks, who was no longer studying, got her first job at the new Woolworths which had opened in Hillbrow and said: “I didn’t think I was worth more than that.”
Her father refused to speak to her for 14 years.
Dr. Glenda Hicks and her niece, an occupational therapist. Source: Provided.
Things refused to settle down after that. Her husband failed at university despite having a genius IQ, became a medical representative and struggled with alcohol abuse.
Hicks left him and with her toddler in tow, moved home to her parents and began studying at Natal’s Teachers' College.
Dr. Glenda Hicks in Port Alfred. Source: Provided.
She initiated her career as an occupational therapist working at a school for children with special needs; here she had not only found her niche but her home.
Hicks received certification for remedial education. She taught at a school for children with cerebral palsy where the children stole her heart.
She recalls working with one little boy who could not speak nor move and how proud she was when he learned how to read. She was able to get him an electric typewriter and devised a contraption that would allow him to be able to use it with the aid of a pencil.
Although he did not learn to walk, as she had hoped, she received typed letters from him telling her about his achievements, aided by her support and guidance.
Dr. Glenda Hick’s daughters and granddaughter are now well on the way to becoming a psychologist. Source: Provided.
She was recommended for the position of principal at the first remedial school in South Africa, yet strongly disagreed with the way in which certain student cases should be handled. The message to her was clear: “You’re only a teacher”.
Hicks left the school after one year with a new dream: to be a psychologist so she could prove her sponsor at the school wrong.
Raising a family and working as a full-time lecturer, so began the seven-year march towards becoming a psychologist.
This new path brought her back into her father's good graces. He prized education above all else and after years of having a strained relationship, he even offered to pay for her studies. She dedicated her master's dissertation to him; she still idolised him. He had his secretary delete the dedication when she was retyping the dissertation.
She started a doctorate at 45-years-old. Since her father had passed away by this time, she dedicated her thesis to him.
Hicks’ life has been exciting, uncertain and unexpected. She has proven herself to be resilient – whose mind is as open as her heart. Her life has shown that it is never too late to choose a new path or to blaze a new trail.
“To think yourself exempt from failed plans or changing careers is to impede your own growth and hamper your own journey.”
She advises anyone who feels stuck in their career to go where their passions are:
“Midlife changes need to be motivated by your passion. I think one of my passions in my work is to be a problem-solver. That’s the challenge. So whatever problems you have that are impeding you from following your passion, solve them!”
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