Student Talk

www.motivateplay.com "I read the articles on your blog but my issue is motivation". Sanele Shazi, one of the first year Bcom Accounting students at the University of the Western Cape (UWC ), came up to me earlier this year and said something along those lines. With an appalling attempt in responding to him, I shared what Mr Graeme CA(SA) said when he came to UWC. He said that to keep us motivated to attend to our studies, we can have a picture of what we aspire to achieve/ dream of having. For instance, a dream car. Fortunately I had recently gone to a "Lead a leader" program that was held by UWC's Leadership and Social Responsibility department. The facilitators Lubabalo Ntlokwana and Jaclisse Lorene Mayoma shared incredibly useful information on motivation; to the extent that I even discovered what motivates me to continue finding useful ways to get through my course, even when I had failed the previous year and not doing that well in the current ye...

Tests and exams typically test how much we’ve learnt during the term, semester, year. Whether or not they are a true representation of our knowledge and understanding of all the work learnt throughout the year/(s) – that may be a debatable topic for another day. Preparation starts from the beginning We actually prepare for tests and exams from the time that the academic year starts. The work that we get tested on is taught over a period because it’s too much for us to learn and understand a few days before the day of the test/exam. It’s such a privilege that at university, even at primary school and high school, to have curriculums that spread the workload over the course of each year: it makes it easier for us to learn at a fair pace to ensure that the work for the whole year is completed within the year. Whether or not the pace or the workload is indeed fair – that may also be a debatable issue for another day. How do we prepare ? We cover the workload by attending classes,...