I get a lot of emails and FB inboxes from many young people who ask me what they should do to climb the ladder. Unfortunately I cannot answer that question because when I started my career I did not think about climbing the corporate ladder but I was obsessed with finding something that I love doing, something that I am passionate about. No doubt I love mathematics and I love education, however, there is so much to do in mathematics and education that I needed to be clear. But something happened during my studies at Wits – while I was doing my honours degree I met Prof Jill Adler and something about her grasped my attention. She was not even a professor then and of course there were other lecturers but she caught my attention not only because of what she was teaching but also how she did it and how she interacted with us. I recall one day at the end of my masters studies talking with her about doing a PhD and I paused to ask her what I need to do to get her job. She laughed. Of course, I have always been too forward ;-) . After laughing she explained to me what it takes. My second question was, “Is it worth it?” and she said yes. That is the day I decided I want to be an academic. Before then it was an unthinkable – being a professor was just something that people like me (young, black, female and from the township) cannot do. Jill Adler made me see myself in academia, she made me consider the possibility of becoming an academic – not because of the money it can give me but because of the influence I can have on knowledge in my field as well as on other people. Look where I am now. I am not done yet, this is a long journey and I still have a long way to go. But I am telling you this so that you understand that I am here not because I pursued the corporate ladder or the money. In fact there is no money in academia – if I wanted money I would not be here because truth is that I can make much more elsewhere. I am here because academia gives me an opportunity to become who I want to be. This is where I feel free, this is where my soul opens up and this is where my passion is. So my message to young people is this: do not pursue the corporate ladder and do not pursue money, just follow your passion and ultimately the money will follow you and the ladder will roll out in front of you to climb. #WiseUp
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 04:31:45 +0000
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