Posted on by Mathapelo Seopela

Building a cohesive world

“Dream,” by Mathapelo.

I recently had the opportunity to attend the 9th HOPE Meeting in Japan, with 110 delegates. This was quite an educational and exciting opportunity. Apart from learning about the culture and people of Tokyo, which included writing in Japanese, we had the chance to interact with Nobel Laureates. Through their unwavering consistency, these researchers achieved major scientific discoveries.

A Nobel Prize medal that belongs to Professor von Klitzing.

They, of course, gave us lectures on their Nobel winning work, but we were also given the opportunity, in small group sessions, to have discussions with the Laureates. These included their mindset, postgraduate journey, challenges and triumphs. They highlighted their need for consistently seeking knowledge, asking and answering questions differently, as well as resolving problems. They key driver to their success was the environment they were in at every stage of their lives.

The need to create relationships with people not only assisted them in growing as individuals, but also fostered their involvement in intercontinental research.

Team K

And we had the experience of true team-work and thinking with those who can challenge you. We we placed in teams, comprising exceptional doctoral and post-doctoral students from the Asian-African-Pacific regions. WOW!!! My passion was truly galvanized by this group of individuals. All teams arrived at similar conclusions: if we don’t work together, our progress as a world will be tainted. And, if we resolve mundane or even global problems, do the people who can use these solutions have access to them? We need to create platforms that ensure that science is not restricted to formal publications, but is distributed to societies through platforms they regularly have access to.

Photoshoot

Each delegate also had the opportunity to present their work. This was done in the form of a 60 second presentation and poster! If you haven’t done this before, you have no idea how hard it is to condense your life’s work into a single minute…The works covered ranged from chemistry to out of this world science (astronomy). I left the meeting feeling that the future is indeed bright in the hand of the young people I met there.

As we thrive to become individuals in a world full of pressures, in addition to inner drive, it is through the relationships we build that we are propelled into becoming better beings. Most of the idioms that carry us through the perils of life, mostly talk about giving rather than receiving. A Chinese adage I often reflect on speaks to “the life of a candle never getting shortened by giving light to another”. We cannot evolve as individuals and society without the aid of people that we come along in our path. On the whole, South Africa – at its best – is a true reflection of this example. Ubuntu: working together, encouraging each other and effectively bringing change to our world.

Posted on by sipokazinyeleka

#MamaImadeit: MY WAY

Day one of all things research

There was a time in my life (a very recent time!) when I spent quite a lot of time stressing about how fast my colleagues were moving with their research while my work…. Well, it showed some significant tortoise tendencies.  Even though my colleagues work in very different sub-fields compared to my own, I could not help compare myself to them. But by now I just thank God for introspection. Reflecting on my own work, my own goals, my own reasons, I could ultimately acknowledge – to myself —  that I was doing what no human being should do because “Comparison is an act of violence against the self”. Ultimately I concluded that I must define my success, which makes me think of that Caper song…

Haven’t we all made it?

We all have a different opinion of what Success looks like, feels like, tastes like and how to attain it. And we certainly don’t all have the same experience that leads to attaining it. Funny enough though, we know success when we see it. Or do we?

The #PeopleWhoThinkTheyHaveMadeItInLife has somewhat disturbed me. For some reason I cannot get over the thought that no one -according to this trend- has made it in life because the minute you achieve something somebody has the guts to ask “so you think you have made it in life”?

What if it’s no joke and whoever coined that phrase to you thinks you haven’t made it?  Does what you had defined as success stop being something you’re proud of because it’s different from what the next person perceives as success? A lot of people have used this phrase particularly when I would be telling them about my research and what I’ll ultimately achieve through it.

Subconsciously I started doubting my work and the small yet very large milestones I’ve overcome so far.

“Mama I made it!!”

It’s no secret that I want to make a difference in my sphere of influence, I mean I don’t want to just exist and breathe for the sake of being alive. What I have come to realize though is that whatever makes Casper Nyovest scream “Mama I made” it is not necessarily what makes Barack Obama utter the same words (If he would ever) thus the need to define my own with my own words and in my own time. Will it be my success or our success? (Our, being the people whose lives I aspire to impact and hopefully change for the better through knowledge and skill transfer.)

I suspect (I hope!) after every data point has been “raised”, “analyzed” and submitted (mid-year, 2017 ) I’ll boldly declare “Mama I made it!!” And then? Keep on updating my definition of success.

#teamwork, #friendship