Posted on by mauro95cesar

Could I make it as a studytuber?

Could I make it as a studytuber? : Mauro Lourenco

2021, another year of lockdown and the continuation of “unprecedented times”. Despite being a full-time registered PhD student, I have not set foot into my University, Wits, since March of 2020, but the show must go on. Anyone that has completed their PhD will tell you how much it consumed their life. And so, I was surprised to find out that there is a community of students called “studytubers” across the world that are filming their student life from home, and posting their videos on YouTube with a massive following.

In light of this, the SAYAS blogging team was encouraged to create our own studytuber video, sharing a day in our PhD lives during lockdown. This is not my first time on camera, I was an extra in a cricket-themed Indian cell phone commercial produced at the Sandton Convention Centre. The commercial was shot in 2017 with famous players from the Indian national cricket team. It never aired on South African TV, but it is on YouTube, click here and see if you can spot me within the first 10 seconds. In my high school days, I was the amateur cameraman for a friend that enjoyed filming pranks, where I featured in a few videos.

My intention before the production was that my video should accurately reflect a day in my student life from home, with the thoughts “it must be authentic” ringing in my head. However, it is difficult to film a truly authentic day when I do not ever film myself in the first place, and so I felt that capturing exactly what happens on a normal day is impossible, as so much of this ‘day in the life’ would be spent setting up camera angles, and deciding on time lapse speeds. I decided to film on a Thursday, a day that is usually quieter compared to the others, as I was worried that I would struggle to both film and succeed in my duties if I chose a busier day. To my surprise, I managed to get a lot of work done even whilst filming. I have big expectations for my PhD during 2021, and so it is clear that these slower days will be few and far between. 

Working from home, or as someone more appropriately put it “living at work”, has become a new way of life for everyone. We can all admit that lockdown workdays are extremely varied, with the only constant being at home. You have breakthrough days, and you have nightmare days, especially when undertaking research. Although sometimes out of my control, my nightmare days are as a result of a lack of planning, laziness and becoming distracted with the comforts of home. To counter this, I try to be as organised as possible and plan each day, and so avoid taking too many unnecessary breaks . The rollercoaster that is a PhD is something that takes time getting used to.

Whilst watching the video back I realised that I am truly fortunate to have a stable home environment from which to work. I can only imagine how difficult other home situations may be. As far as the video making goes, it was enjoyable, and I thought I would be more nervous about it. On reflection, I was not as self-conscious as I have been in my past, perhaps due to the “it is what it is mentality” adopted by many these days. Hopefully you have enjoyed an example of a more relaxed day in my PhD life, complete with snack guides – including cake, some personal literature review advice, and a home workout routine.

 

Posted on by mauro95cesar · 2 Comments

From aspiring cricketer to geographer, my journey thus far.

I was born on 4 June 1995 in Parktown – a South African with Portuguese heritage. I grew up with a single sibling, my older brother Marcio, who I always looked up to. Looking back, I think it was his intelligence and ability to teach me right from wrong that I most admired. I so badly wanted to be like him.

Photograph taken after reaching my highest score in cricket – 117* in 2018.

When I started high school (Edenvale High), I really had no idea what I wanted to become or do, apart from playing cricket for the Proteas. In grade 10, I hit a growth spurt, started running in the morning and changed dramatically from a short, overweight boy to a tall and rather slender young man. I distinctly remember that my Principal came to me, one day, asking who I was. I told him my name and he was flabbergasted to find out that I was, in fact, the same student that had been in his school since grade 8. I was very timid, and all the attention was very new to me. That same year I chose my subjects: maths core, physical science, accounting and geography. Geography was by far my absolute favourite, there was no doubt. My teacher, Miss Joelene Augustine (who I still keep in contact with) had a profound impact on my life. She was certainly the best teacher I had. Apart from her teaching ability, she would always look out for me, was always kind and would also let us watch the cricket world cup on a tiny TV in the corner of her classroom during break.

In grade 11, we had the opportunity to go to Bali (yes, Bali Indonesia) on the school’s geography field trip. We organised fundraisers – I have never washed so many cars nor baked so many cupcakes in my life – but it was all good fun, and we reached our collective target. Our trip lasted two weeks. The very first morning after arriving at the inland hotel, we woke up at 4 AM to go on a hike up Mt. Agung, an active stratovolcano. Our local field guide spoke very eloquently, and I remember being at the front of the group with Miss Augustine. After we reached the summit, to a breath-taking sunrise over the Lombok Strait, I turned and looked directly at Miss Augustine and asked: “Is this what Geographers do ma’am?” She simply smiled and replied that you can do literally anything with geography. From that moment onward, I decided that I would take up geography at university. It was a “no-brainer”.

The last evening of our Bali field trip in 2012. I am sitting in the foreground on the front step, right from centre, next to Miss Augustine.

I have since completed my Master of Science degree in Geography at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. I am currently enrolled as a PhD student and I have received an incredible opportunity to work with the National Geographic Okavango Wilderness Project, during my research. I have some new heroes, now: my Masters and Honours supervisor, Professor Chris Curtis and my PhD supervisor Professor Jennifer Fitchett. My dream is to work as an academic in the field of geography. I am looking forward to the day I get to wear that red gown!

Conducting fieldwork in the Drakensburg during 2016

Someone once told me that the smartest people in the world are the ones who surround themselves with people who are more intelligent than they are, and I absolutely agree. I think we can add something to that, though. You do not have to surround yourself solely with the smartest people, every opinion loud or whispered is important and certainly valuable. I have inadvertently lived up to exactly that, as I am most certainly not the smartest person in the room, but will connect myself with people who are open to sharing their views in the hopes of learning from one another.

During our Honours year, we wrote several blog posts as part of our assessments, an exercise that I thoroughly enjoyed (see mine here). Thank you for the opportunity to write about my personal story and share my own experiences, something that we do not indulge in often, as students who constantly have to cite others.