Health Science Reviews

by Lwanda Ndwandwe

To whom it may concern

It took me a while to figure out what I could say my honours year has been like, I’ve had so many mixed emotions and I haven’t taken the time to process everything. So instead, I thought to write a letter, a letter to myself 6 months ago, and to those who’ll soon find themselves on this incredible journey.

“Honours will be honours”, I am sure you are probably tired of hearing this line but trust me when I say you will grow to understand it. The honours programme itself needs you to be fully prepared not only to work hard but smart, it comes with a lot of exciting and different content that you will be engage in which will challenge your thinking while shaping you for the field ahead. The year will be a different experience for everyone, it may be difficult to adjust both to the environment and the work but keep in mind that this is all part of the process. While trying to be productive and on track with everything I had to learn these 4 lessons below, that may seem silly but really helped to keep me calm and enjoy the year thus far:

Lesson 1: It is okay to not be okay, please read that again. This year is meant to be challenging bringing you out of your comfort zone, but with that comes growth.

Lesson 2: Set a timetable and stick to it, this will help you stay ahead while being productive with your time. There will be activities, lab work, a project, individual and group assignments that will be expected from you, multitasking comes into play and this will be highly effective if there is a schedule/ timetable to work with.

Lesson 3: Give yourself a break, add it to your timetable, whether it’s a walk or going out for lunch it’s easy to forget to take a moment off your laptop or cellphone, so go outside and breath.

Lesson 4: Enjoy the process and the pressure it comes with; the year goes by so quickly and before you know it, you’re sitting in your room wondering where the time has gone.

Overall, this year is going to be an adventure filled with excitement, tears, disappointments, procrastination, self-doubt, great achievements, and most importantly new skills and greater knowledge; and through all this don’t forget to take care of yourself.

Warm Regards,

A Proud honours student