Posted on by Nthabeleng Hlapisi · 1 Comment

Sharing is caring – my journey into postgraduate studies…

One of the most important quotes that I have encountered in my life, words of Marie Brennan, reads, ‘our wisdom grows not by staking out claims and defending them against all comers, but by sharing information freely, so that we may work together for the betterment of all’. I love this quote because it resonates with me and ties in with how my postgraduate journey began.

My name is Nthabeleng Hlapisi. I started my undergraduate degree in Lesotho at the National University of Lesotho. Throughout my four-year degree, I did not understand what Masters or even Honours meant. Lesotho education at the time did not provide enough guidance regarding postgraduate degrees and did not host any career exhibitions of any sort. I remember one day I learnt that our chemistry laboratory assistant had a Masters degree. That was mind-blowing, and yet I couldn’t fully comprehend what it meant. Mind you, I had professors who were lecturers but because most of them were foreign, I thought maybe the titles were what their home education system afforded them – ignorance I know.

After finishing my undergraduate degree, I saw some of my friends getting scholarships to study overseas and even to go to universities in South Africa. This intrigued me, and inspired me to find out what these postgraduate studies are?! Fortunately, I had a friend who had done the same modules as me who was then pursuing his Honours degree at the University of the Free State. One day he called me, I remember it was a Wednesday afternoon, and he told me to apply to pursue my Honours there. Well, I did not know where to start, but I thank him to this day because he shared information, and his determination to just assist me into getting into Honours showed true stewardship.

I entered the University of the Free State not knowing what to expect studying for an Honours in Chemistry, but it was the best and most educational year of my life. To this day, 2017 is the year for books. I took another brave step and moved further away to KwaZulu-Natal for my Masters at the University of Zululand because I enjoyed my postgraduate so much. This is where I was introduced to medicinal chemistry. People always say find your purpose in life and do what gives you peace, I think I have in medicinal chemistry.

Studying medicinal chemistry not only fulfils me but it gives me a sense of purpose. I have always wanted to be part of the solution makers in the health system and I also happen to love chemistry and just the complexity of organic synthesis and how funny reactions can be. My Masters journey was most fulfilling and tough and has opened up so many opportunities for me. I rediscovered my love for most of my hobbies through chemistry; travel through the several conferences I attended and writing through the papers and book chapters I wrote, to mention a few. My first international travel was through chemistry, to deliver an oral presentation in the United States.

I have registered for a PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal to further investigate and study how nanotechnology can be used in cancer therapy and bacterial infections. I strongly believe that we as scientists could do better to improve our health systems, through advocacy, education and working hard in the labs for policymakers to see. I am inspired by the likes of Professor Nyokong who always lets her work speak for itself. Maybe I am biased because she is a chemist, but she has led science to become important especially to young African girls.

Outside of academia I love travelling, exploring new restaurants and food. This just lets me experience people’s cultures through food and travel. I also love fashion. Yes, I know, a chemist who loves fashion? It is my second love for the following chemistry. I am also a bibliophile, which is one of my escape routes, reading and writing.  

Out of all the lessons that I have learnt so far through my postgraduate degrees, the most important is that sharing is caring. Sharing information with other people can help them unleash their dreams. Sharing opportunities and communicating science is another way of building a better community. I couldn’t be where I am if the people close to me hadn’t have opened their hearts and assisted me through any process, from getting into my Honours to the lab colleagues in my Masters.

My dream is for a united community that understands that sharing does not dim your light but enhances it. Without an exaggerated ego, the dissemination of knowledge is liberating. I would love to see a community of people, including myself, who freely help other people with what they can and watch how much more will be given to them to also do so in a healthy mental state.

Posted on by leahjunck

A year of pondering ivy

I’ve been postponing writing this final blog for SAYAS. Why? For one thing, I’ve always been bad at goodbyes. Although in this case, as our fabulous editor Jennifer Fitchett aptly said, ‘it will never be goodbye, just less contact’. Even parties I usually prefer to leave quietly without drawing attention to my exit. But writing for SAYAS was an experience that warrants at least an attempt at finding some recounting words. Also because I find the blog’s mission of creating a platform for genuine stories, shared by young academics, imperative to creating an environment where support and openness trumps the overwrought image of the academic as a stoic, objective, singular figure. At least, that’s my own interpretation of the platform. 

Blogging for SAYAS spanned quite a few significant experiences for me: from submitting my PhD thesis, via having to revise and re-submit it after that, to finally learning that I will receive my degree. I also got to share my thoughts while searching for work, figuring out which of my interests to focus on in the process, and starting a postdoctoral position. This all transpired during a time when academic life is still almost exclusively happening online (due to COVID-19), providing an additional spin to grappling with the social and political fundamentals embedded in academia.

Overall, it was a period of really pondering whether academia is where I envision myself for the foreseeable future. In my introductory blog for SAYAS, I said that it is ethnography, the immersive research method in anthropology, rather than the discipline itself that I feel at home with. But what is increasingly relevant for me is the institutional dynamics within which I can apply myself and whether they can form a place of conviviality. The latter is a concept that has been developed and dignified by the works of my PhD supervisor, Professor Francis Nyamnjoh. It has been significant in how I think about being human, being a scholar and imbued in the webs of power of universities. For the moment, I suppose, you will still find me at one of those institutions – as difficult, hierarchical and frustrating as they sometimes are.

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An ivy-covered door to a building at the University of Cape Town. For me, quite symbolic of the elitism (like that of the US-American so-called ‘ivy league’ of hight-status colleges including Harvard) that tends to get reproduced through academic conceptions.

My decision to apply mostly for postdoctoral positions after the PhD also had to do with attending various events that were accessible for free due to in-person conferences, symposia and seminars being moved online throughout the pandemic. Apart from interesting content, I picked up the gist that there is more desire for invigorating exchanges than I had thought. There are always people who seek to reimagine what seems unshakable. My hope is that such spaces for conversation will be made more accessible, even after restrictions on global movements are eased, as many scholars won’t have the luxury of access to the lavish funds that are needed to attend. 

Writing and thus creating some coherence to the messiness of being human is a practice that can be very calming for me. It has been for long, yet I spend most of my writing time writing for something – for a degree or for being published. Rarely do I set time aside to write for just myself. Which is a pity! If I were a person to make new year resolutions, this may be one. 

So taking ‘writing time’ to just think through all the things that were happening this year, the ordeals and moments of relief, was rather curative. However, sharing my thoughts and vulnerabilities in this blog was not always easy. Publishing quite personal reflections is still quite new to me and has, sometimes, put me out of my comfort zone. But it did encourage me to advocate for (and practice) a less varnished form of academic communication. And I believe that it takes this openness and putting one’s guard down to really achieve a more approachable, companionable scholarship. One that illustrates some resistance to creeping ivy coverage – as presentable as it may be.