Health Science Reviews

by Refilwe Seleka

Saying that my honours year has been difficult would be an understatement. Any word that describes hardship has been added to my life’s vocabulary. From the heaps of work to the long hours on campus, to no recess, to the full independence. However not all is bad because some important skills and lessons have been gained.

The biggest lesson I have learned is that “sometimes the bravest thing one can do is to ask for help”. In my undergraduate studies, I found it easy to wing it and ask Youtube for solutions, but I had to take that mentality and throw it out the window this year. This is because I would spend twice the time trying to figure out something when I could’ve just asked someone for help. I am lucky that I learned this lesson early in the year and found myself a great group of friends that supported me whenever I struggled or else it was going to be a longer year than planned.

The skill I refined the most this year was my time management. For years I was delusional and told myself that I work better under pressure therefore would leave work for the last minute. That worked well in the past years, but honours humbled me. I had to make sure that I do my work daily while trying to stay sane and have a social life. Eventually I managed to hone this skill, well not sure about having a social life but a win is a win.

I will say that I was never prepared for this year, but as they say: “You can never be ready for the future as it is an unchartered area” or so I say. Although it has been hard, I have grown in those hardships. At the end of the year, I will be honoured with this degree that I have a complicated relationship with, and that is something that always pushes me when the going gets tough.