Health Science Reviews

by Caitlin-Joy Meyer

Last year around this time I had dreamed of what life would have been like when I had finally been accepted into Honours. I had imagined what a dedicated student I would be and going out and still enjoying time with old and new friends.

Living in that reality now, some of those dreams did not happen. Yes, I try my best to keep up to date with course work and deadlines BUT there is always so much going on and so much to do that I have fallen short at times. When the going gets tough I do try and take a breather just to get back on my feet. Although, I have been told and knew this year was going to be tough, I still went in with an open mind. There have been many challenges along the way, but one can only keep pushing because you only learn from your mistakes.

Besides the millions of things that always have to be done, I am truly enjoying building and gaining knowledge in areas of research that I am passionate about. My eyes have been opened to so many things in this world that I was not aware of. I have also been blessed with an amazing group of friends that have been by my side since we started this year. It feels really great to have built such a strong bond with them, as going into this year I was quite fearful starting a new degree and not knowing anyone.

The feeling of being back on campus and being surrounded by friends has made dealing with everything that is going on, a bit easier to handle. Especially the struggle of loadshedding resulting in my laptop dying during lectures, forgetting my student card and having to call my friends to let me in as well as just having someone to talk to during break times and those late days on campus.

Being back in the laboratory and learning new techniques put me back in my element, I really missed it. I have found my passion with my Research project Team, and I am really excited for what the future holds.

Thus far, the year has been a real learning experience and in this short space of time that has flown by, I have grown so much and have great respect for researchers out there.