Posted on by MukhtaarWaja · 1 Comment

A Glimpse into the Life of Academia’s Favourite Bad Boy

To say my life is not full of action and adventure would be a bald-faced lie, and I would never dream of lying to you, dear reader. People are always asking me what a day in my life is like – “people” meaning my relatives, who are concerned and confused by my life choices. I doubt my vlog will alleviate their concerns, but I’m sure it could help their confusion! I can confidently say that my vlog is highly representative of most days in my life – as most days in my life are more or less identical… which sounds so much sadder than I realised. Anyway, click on my face to watch a day in my life!

My day begins when I wake up, usually to the sound of my younger brother singing Taylor Swift songs at the top of his lungs. I lay in bed, hoping that today will be the day I meet a rich widow who will take me into her home and ensure I never have to work again. It’s a great way to ensure that every day is disappointing! While most days I spend my mornings running errands for my family, there are some mornings where I go to campus for meetings with my supervisor and her other postgrad students. These meetings sometimes become therapy sessions – desperately needed therapy sessions – which manage to be both cathartic and informative. Aside from meetings, I also go to campus to tutor, which involves me forcing the students to call me Captain, and telling them to stand on their desks. There have been a lot of injuries but I think it’s worth it. Just kidding!

Once home from the morning’s errands, I immediately start procrastinating working hard. I don’t grab my guitar and attempt to learn a song that is far beyond my skill level; I don’t watch YouTube videos about topics I have never once considered in my life; and I definitely do not scroll mindlessly through Instagram, forgetting each post the second it leaves my sight. Perhaps a less committed student may indulge in such behaviour, but I would never!

So, what work do I do when I’m not doing all of the above? Well, most of my time is spent writing and reading, working on specific chapters for my research paper – like my methodology, my literature review, or my study site. Writing is not always the easiest thing to do. Some days the words flow with ease, but other days the words give you the cold shoulder and refuse to explain what you did to upset them, which makes it impossible to make up for it! Currently, I am doing data analysis, which means I am going through the interviews I conducted, and searching for themes and patterns in the participants’ answers. It is a truly exciting stage in my research, and I cannot wait to share my findings with the world!

Loadshedding plays a key role in how I structure the work in my day, with the threat of loadshedding pushing me to work quicker so that my day doesn’t end with me working in total darkness. That said, my day usually ends with me working in total darkness. The stress of an upcoming deadline pairs wonderfully with the paranoid thoughts the darkness causes. Finally, exhausted from a hard day of stressing about work – which then prevents me from actually working – I get in bed and am suddenly wide awake and unable to fall asleep.

This happens every night.

Send help.

Posted on by Lonwabo Makapela

Hello 2023!

I forget how energised and inspired I usually feel at this time of the year following the much-needed family time at home in the Eastern Cape during those one-and-a-half month-long December holidays. This year was very different for me. I had a 2-week long ‘winter break’ where I spent the first week trying to recuperate in bed from exhaustion in frigid Nashville. I spent the second week touring around New York – thankfully during a visit from my partner, who brought a feeling of South African comfort that I desperately needed after five months abroad. Much of my New York adventures were on foot, and so while the experience was incredible, I was exhausted when I arrived back in Nashville. Not the same relaxing family time that I would normally have had over December back home.

One of the hallmarks of being a Fulbright visiting student researcher is the opportunity to engage in invaluable cultural exchange experiences; I am grateful to do that during this time nine months that I am spending in the USA. When I’m not travelling through the USA, and instead have to knuckle down and get some work done, an average day entails a strict morning routine, block times for research throughout the day, and relaxed evenings. This vlog depicts an honest glimpse into a day in my life as a Fulbright researcher living in the USA, my apartment, my morning routine, and the stressful but exciting deadline leading up to my first international article submission.

The schedule on January 5th evolved slightly from its typical; let me explain.

Morning routine

I usually set my alarm for 05:45 in summer and 06:00 in winter and follow a strict routine until around 08:30. I always put my phone on the furthest table away from my bed because it forces me to get out of bed to switch the alarm off. I have a 10–15-minute quiet time first thing in the morning. As a former track and field athlete, I love doing a 30-minute or more home workout while listening to the radio. It’s a great way to energise, inform and prepare me for the day. I then drink my vitamins, shower, and make a straightforward breakfast of oats and coffee, which I eat while listening to a podcast episode. My current go-to is the Goop podcast. Once ready, I head to the library to start my work which is usually divided into set blocks of time. That makes my day significantly more productive.

Afternoons

The first slump of the day is at 12:30, so I usually go back home to eat and take a 40-minute nap. At 14:00, I wake up, drink a final cup of coffee for the day, and proceed to get through more work till 17:00. I prefer doing this work from my apartment, mostly out of habit, but also to maintain my workflow in cases where I have to continue working till later than expected.

Evenings

At 17:00 I usually attend an extramural activity like choir, or a walk at the centennial park. When I’m in South Africa, these extramural activities also include pottery classes. Once I get back, I prepare a light dinner and binge on some YouTube videos, which over the last week has included the ‘day in my life’ vlogs of my fellow SAYAS bloggers. I begin winding down at 21:00 by gratitude journaling and filling out my planner for the following day, and once that is done, I head to bed.

Amongst all this structure, I have had to update my routine to make my transition to the States easier. I anticipate reshuffling and adjusting it once again upon my return to South Africa.