SAYAS BLOG

However, in my undergraduate years I was an enthusiastic and motivated young party animal and vodka promised me that I could dance, even though I definitely couldn’t! I believe there is a time and place for everything, including some stupid mistakes along the way. I don’t regret my youthful madness during my undergraduate years. However, as I got older, I had to work hard and dream big. I got one step closer to my academic dream when I obtained my Honours and Masters degrees majoring in medical virology at the University of the Free State. Like a postage stamp, I stick to a thing until it’s delivered, and here I am, pursuing a PhD at the University of Pretoria.

I have always felt like my academic career described who I am (a nerd), but I taught myself to embrace my hidden characteristics that make me who I am. Ask any of my friends, family and fellow colleagues, and they will describe me as a sarcastic, yet (hopefully) funny and friendly person. I would like to think that I am a likeable person, because I need at least one person to laugh at my ingeniously crafted lame jokes. But jokes aside, I am a caring and loveable person that wants to make a difference in life. Even if on some days this is a mere R10 donation to a homeless person.

I have a variety of hobbies that I enjoy. I am a big fan of crime thriller stories. I blame my mother as we always sat in front of the television watching true crime stories until late in the evenings during my high school career. I am particularly fond of reading crime fiction novels. It is so exciting when we discuss a thrilling crime novel after both having read it, and to this day we do still watch true crime television and discuss crime novels. These are the memories I always cherish. My favourite author is Mark Billingham who is one of the UK’s most acclaimed and popular crime writers.

I also grew up with a very talented sister, and I was always envious of her and the artistic things she could create. She did, however, inspire me to awaken the creative side of myself, as I was growing tired of exploring different ways of drawing stick men. I am no Picasso but at least I could prove to myself that I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Mosaic is an art that I recently started exploring. I can relate to it as I sometimes also feel like broken pieces of glass, but with some “glue” and patience you can mend any broken person and create something beautiful.

‘My brain says let’s do something exciting, but my body says don’t listen to that fool!’ is a statement I’ll always relate to more than I want to admit as I can be an extremely lazy person at times. But knowing I have completed 9 Midmar Miles (swimming 1.6 km in a dam) makes me feel very proud of myself. When I feel stressed after a difficult day, I blow off some steam by going for a swim workout, and, when I feel adventurous, I go hiking in the mountains like some kind of majestic mountain goat, though my twisted ankle would disagree. One of my all-time favourite adventures is when my four-legged children take me for a walk around the neighbourhood. For clarity, I am referring to children of the canine kind.  They know their lazy mom needs to be more productive!

Unfortunately, all people have demons they need to face and mine are depression and bipolar disorder. Over the last 15 years I struggled to find happiness in everyday things, but with a lot of support, wise psychologists, and well-educated psychiatrists I can now appreciate those same things with a big smile! I am extremely grateful for my family and friends that supported me through this journey, and I dedicate this blog to them. I have learnt so much from myself over the years, and I can now confidently say that I am a beautiful, strong, independent young woman ‘who don’t need no man’ to make her feel like she is worthy (it is still nice to have a partner who cooks and cleans though 😉). The advice I can give to anyone going through a rocky journey like myself is, ‘don’t cry because it is over, smile because it happened’.

Stay tuned for more of my posts and thoughts during 2022!

If you’re a “How I met your mother” fan like me, you probably read this blog title in Barney’s voice. If you’re not a fan of the show, I strongly suggest you switch to Netflix as soon as you’re done reading this post! Like many others, I have an array of series that I find myself repetitively watching (even though I know how each episode ends) such as Modern Family, HIMYM, Friends, The Big Bang Theory and let’s not forget about Charmed, the 1998 series about the sister witches. Maybe it’s the comfort in knowing how they end, or the homely feeling I have while watching them, but all I know is that a bad day can be fixed with one of my favourite series. What’s your go-to series that can make you smile or laugh on your worst days?

Believe it or not, I’m not JUST a couch potato. I love being out in the sun too. My family and I enjoy the adventurous side of life, river rafting, tubing, parachuting and the most adventurous experience of all, the Big Swing in Graskop, Mpumalanga. Just imagine the adrenaline as you roped up and told to walk BACKWARDS towards the 70-meter-high cliff above the waterfall. The best part of that experience was the tightening of the rope BEFORE we jumped off! Nevertheless, I still cherished the entire jump as my big sis was tied down with me…ride together, die together.

Speaking of whom, I would describe my sister as that really cool kid that has always got your back. She’s one of the most important people in my life, and because of her, I’ve got to experience the greater things in life. One of those being, the Ultra Music festival in Europe, Croatia (or “ooltra”, as they say in Split, Croatia). What a wonderful trip! From walking up five flights of stairs WITH our luggage (and back down when leaving), finding ourselves lost in the town…THREE times, dancing and singing along to Cheat codes and The Chainsmokers (who were literally a few feet away from us!) while partying until the morning light in a completely different country was a surreal experience. With a wholesome, fun family like mine, I know I can always count on my support system and they a part of my life that I am most grateful for.

Adding to my active lifestyle, I thoroughly enjoy dancing! Perhaps it’s because of the mandatory dancing at Indian weddings, but when that music blasts, I’m off to the dance floor. It’s a great way of letting go of your troubles, moving your body and enjoying the MOMENT. I recently also joined a community Zumba class which I definitely prefer over the usual exercise at the gym. If you’re looking for a healthy way to de-stress while having some fun, I recommend joining a dance class, or just turning up the music once in a while, you won’t regret it.

Wow, when I first started writing this blog, I thought it would be difficult, I hardly talk about myself anymore, it’s just about the “A” word (see title). It feels great to focus on all the other areas of my life, some of which I haven’t even managed to capture such as my reading quirks, honey-sweet addiction, being a mother of two puppies (a.k.a fully grown Labradors) and being a horror movie fanatic. So, although this post is about introducing myself as “MYSELF” and not my work…I have to give credit to one of my favourite facets of my life, my work. Without diving into the details, I will simply mention why I smile on the way to my university every morning: I set my own time to wake up, I set my own work schedule, I set my own break time, I have a healthy relationship with my “boss” (a.k.a supervisor) and co-workers, Oh…and I get the privilege of performing experiments which could potentially save the lives of millions of pancreatic cancer patients!

So, to all my fellow readers, that’s me, a woman who’s grateful for all facets of her wonderful life. No, it’s not rosy all the time, but life would be boring if it was. So, cheers to 2022 everyone, may we grow, conquer and love!