Experiences Outside Academia & Business
2011
Between my MSc and my PhD, I worked and travelled throughout the United Kingdom, primarily funded through Home-Based Caring (in-house caring for the elderly) and WWOOFing (World-Wide Opportunities in Organic Farming). The WWOOFing platform (https://wwoof.net/) involved working for free on organic farms, in return for lodging and food. Upon return to South Africa, I worked as a research assistant at UCT, under Dr Rob Ingle, to generate the funds necessary to move to Canada for my PhD.
I intend to tap into the local WWOOFing network again (or similar work via our current farming partnerships), to consolidate my study of the land with some hours of simple physical farming labour per month. The physical work was valuable, and informed my academic perspective.
2020
In January 2020, I took a planned 6-month break from academia, with the idea of making a considered decision whether to pursue an academic career or branch into industry or an entirely new field. I did not foresee that retreat aligning with the pandemic, and extending into a financial crisis. A research opportunity under the Social Justice Research Chair (SU) and teaching the UP176 course gave me the resources to transition back into the academic track, once I had made that decision.
I consider the travels in 2011 and the silent year in 2020 critical elements of my career trajectory. The fallow years have proven to be equal in value to the productive years.