Karla (Visser) Jansen van Rensburg - Pecanwood College Alumni

Karla Visser now Karla Jansen van Rensburg, Pecanwood Alumni, class of 2009, has gone on to achieve numerous goals both in her personal and professional life.

After high school Karla attended the University of Pretoria where she studied for her LLB Law Degree, however, in her 3rd term, Karla decided her path lies elsewhere and went on a journey of self-discovery. During this time, she travelled to beautiful Bahrain and Botswana.

In 2011 after her journey of self-discovery had concluded Karla had found her passion in Hospitality. She registered at Stenden University based in Port Alfred, Eastern Cape where she completed her B. Com in Hospitality Management Degree. After her first year, she applied to fast track her studies and run her years 2 & 3 simultaneously and finished her degree in 2014 and graduated Cum Laude. “I loved the diversity that my new degree offered. That same year I applied to start my MBA through UNICAF via the University of Nicosia that I did while working full time & graduated in 2019”, said Karla.

Currently, Karla is the Rooms Operations Manager at The Makokola Retreat in Malawi. She has been working there since October 2016.

Between 2015 - and August 2016 Karla worked in Dubai for a short time before moving to Abu Dhabi to join the St. Regis Saadiyat Island Resort where she worked in their concierge department from December 2016 until she moved back to Malawi.

During her time of finding her passion and her journey of self-discovery, Karla met the love of her life - De Reuck Jansen van Rensburg.

“We love having this adventure called life together. We have been working together since we’ve known each other and love it. Together we have travelled to Malawi, Botswana, Zambia, Belgium, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Australia & Cyprus with loads more on our bucket list”, said Karla.

Next year Karla and her partner will be moving to Canada, where they received a Permanent Residency.

Karla reminisces about numerous fond memories about her time at Pecanwood college. From the number of sports, she partook in, to the Midmar Mile trips, end-off-year camps, dances and events, the most precious memory she holds is her being sworn in as the first-ever head girl at Pecanwood College.