Department of Science and Technology Education

My Journey to my dream job

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Mrs Lerato Photo, Science Lecturer in the CEDU, Department of Science and Technology Education

My journey started when I grew up in the rural area of Thokoza and other areas around Mpumalanga, South Africa. I grew up going to local schools where I was never exposed to any information concerning universities available outside my villages. All I knew was, once I get our Grade 12 results, I will then have to leave the villages and go find a tertiary institution to enrol.

In the next path of the journey, I only applied to study at the University of Pretoria on the day I got my matric results. Due to my late application, I was not eligible to apply for any financial assistance. This meant that my parents had to pay for everything from their own pockets. Unfortunately, due to circumstances not of their own, they could not afford to pay for my registration fees. My mother earned very minimal as a domestic worker and my father also working as a mechanic. I knew then that things were not going to be easy for me.  However, my dream was to study and become a lecturer as this has been my lifelong dream.

The real situation into the dream saw me during the first six months of the year at tertiary walking for an hour daily to attend classes. This was extremely strenuous as I would be worn out every time I got to campus. Fortunately, six months into the year, I got the Funza Lushaka Bursary for an on-campus residency. For me, this was important since it lessened the burden of travel and somehow, I realized that I was ten steps or even more ahead into the dream depending on how one sees it.

The ten steps ahead saw me completing my B.Ed. degree where I then went straight into teaching at a primary school in Tembisa. I immediately registered for an Honours in B.Ed because the dream was now a reality. During the implementation of the dream, I was highly active in improving the quality of science education at the school. My presence as the science teacher at the school brought great transformation. I left an indelible mark by leading the school to number one in science in the circuit.

Another leg to the dream saw me completing an M.Ed. followed by a registration for a Ph.D. degree.  This achievement of obtaining an MEd saw me appointed as a lecturer at UNISA. This appointment at UNISA makes me to have a hands-on experience and a characteristic smell of my dream job. I now know that even a rural girl can be part of the largest Open Distance Learning institution in Africa. The dream job makes demands and dictates that I learn a lot especially as an individual for purposes of self - growth. I have embraced self-growth and the journey into self- growth and mentorship says to me I am leaving some footprints into my career at UNISA. My dream job also provides opportunities to acquire skills as a future line manager. I belong to a teaching and learning committee as a representative. I have big future plans about this dream job. Let us meet in a period of 5 years from now when I will take you to how the journey of my dream job progressed from then.

@Moleboheng Ramulumo

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Publish date: 2021-06-04 00:00:00.0

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