Its Graduations Again, B.tech Public Relations Baby

Finally the day has come again. It is by far my greatest achievement. The celebrations were set to be held at the Multi-Purpose hall at the Cape Peninsular University of Technology, Cape Town Campus. The time of event was doted for exactly 10:00. All guests are required to be seated at exactly 09:30, as if that will ever happen. With excitement boiling in our systems, we found ourselves at the photographers tend outside the venue trying to get past the long line to book for our pictures to be taken. At five minutes past ten, we were all seated, waiting for the faculty to walk in.

The music played, while the faculty blessed us with their presence. A lot was being said, but I hardly remember what exactly, what I can remember is that from the second we were told that the ceremony was broadcast live, my friend and I started looking around for the camera every now and then, and yelled for our friends as they went on stage.

The moment came when I was on stage. That Oprah moment! All eyes were on me as I took the walk of success. I smiled, and right there in the crowd, my cousin yelled for me and my friends followed the suit. I think my ears where blocked from all the excitement, but I heard the sound of the flash as I took my steps towards when vice-chancellor. “Well done Siyabonga, you have done us proud, Come again” that was the first time I have ever heard this woman’s voice, and she smiled at me while she said that to me. I was now more than motivated. I went on to take my last picture on stage and moved on to backstage. The ceremony went on till its end.

Now it was time for celebration, I went to take countless pictures with classmates, family and friends. And later went on to embrace Long Street with my presence. Finally I am a post graduate, and no one can take that away from me.

One thing I learnt from being a tutor at CPUT whilst studying is that when you are given the responsibility to educate, you not only give skills and knowledge to student, you also learn new things, theories and ways to doing things. I learnt to be patient, professional and always be accommodating to other people. I also realised that working as a team is better than working alone. Therefore, if you are going to be working alone, ask for opinions and ideas from other people.

 

Dear Patrick at Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa

Hi Lawrence

I trust you are keeping well and have been able exercise your creative ideas.

I’m am just enquiring if you have found fulltime  employment as yet, if not, please contact me .

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Warm Regards

PATRICK ADAMSON

Programme Director: HR/IR

The Heart and Stroke Foundation SA                  

_______________________________________________________

Dear Patrick

Sorry for the late reply. I only notice you e-mail now, pilled under all the junk mail that come into this mailbox. Besides the fact that I have gained a little bit of weight and my parents keep telling me that I will be fat in a year, I am doing so fantastic. I have been a very productive couch potato, I have been logging onto the internet, applying for jobs week in and week out, clean the dishes and get glued to the TV screen while I wait for a call for an interview.

I have literally tried half the job agencies and all they can provide me with is a part time Call Centre job. Here is a classic at MULTICHOICE Africa, I was fashionably rejected for a call centre job because I am {here is the word} Over Qualified. I have gotten used to being so rejected; it is as if I needed it more to survive, than to take a breath of oxygen. It is very tough to find job in Gauteng. If it’s not your “over qualified”, then it is “you don’t have enough experience”. Regardless of the ups and downs, I still have the spirit. And I know that sometime soon, someone will open the door.

On a lighter note, I graduated last month on the 19^th April 2012. I did not have much time on my hands as I arrived on a Tuesday and left on the Friday. It was a fantastic short trip.

In conclusion, Thanks for checking up on me it means a lot that I am being missed at HSFSA, I surely miss you too. I am currently unemployed and searching though websites, newspapers, and agents. But the greatest part is, I’m in no hurry, a good job will come when the time is right.

Yours Sincerely

Lawrence

Good friendships come to an end (The Cursing Addiction)

After 15 years of friendship I had to say goodbye. There is a belief that people come into our lives to serve a particular purpose and after that purpose has been served, there is no longer a need for those people.

The period came when I realised it is about time that I moved on from the heavy drinking, second hand smoking and sleeping out for days without having any worry about having to take a bath. “As long as we brush out teeth chomi, and wipe the relevant parts of our bodies, we are good to go!” In my whole existence I have never thought that a time will come when these words will come out of my mouth! Well there you go! My vomit…

The other thing about this friendship is that, it was linked to other friendships that I kept for about five years and they too were not so healthy. If we were not drinking and driving, waiting for someone to finish getting laid in the toilet in a club, we were bailing someone at a police station. It was the greatest and most fun time of my life. Shit! Those times were fucken fun hay!

Another thing, when I was friends with these guys, I cursed like crazy! And it sure damn fucken felt great after it! It all started as a joke, and gradually developed to a habit, and from a habit to an uncontrollable beast. I would wake up in the morning and call them just to take a hit. It was as if I was addicted to this cursing drug. It was as if I needed to curse more than I needed to take the last breath of oxygen to survive! “Hello bitch, you bloody slut!” “You fucked-up piece of hopeless trash” I loved saying it, it felt satisfying to my soul. Something was wrong, and the only way to end all this madness was out.

Ye  Ye Ye! I did try all that, after returning from my year trip from Cape Town I kind of tried to face the beast (cursing addiction) but I was viewed as the educated bitch who is trying to change who they really are. I wish them the best with their lives, and hope they get to be where I am standing, in order for them to see from this view, that this friendship is fucked up! and beyond repair.

So here am I, trashing 15 years of friendship, others 5 and others 3. The situation is beyond my control and personally, I believe that we no longer want the same things in life. I need to grow intellectually, spiritually, emotionally and most importantly educationally. oh damn, I needed new friends, and most importantly I needed a new book to read!

The moral of the story is that while some people grow, some don’t. No matter how long you may have known a person there will come a time where you don’t have the same views to life. And if you decide to stay in this friendship, you constantly keep clashing, repeating the same mistakes over and over again. It became so clear that I had to move on. Look around you are you friendships perfect or they are Justas fucked up as mine?   

The Need or Want to Belong

Maslow has identified the human needs, and he explains that these needs are like a pyramid. The basic needs in the bottom need to be fulfilled in order to fulfil the other needs upper on the pyramid. Among these needs, he identifies that as humans we have the need to belong to a particular group or society.

We sometime find ourselves surprised in random groups. Well I found myself surprised in a group with friends who do not share the same vision in life with me. As I go through the pictures I took with these people along the years, I cannot help to ask myself as to how could I have spent six years of my life with these people and be so blind?

Was I just fulfilling this need to belong to a social group? Or fulfilling needs to be loved and be listened to by friends, regardless of what they believed in or how they lived their lives. If so, then how valid are these statements that say: “birds of the same flock fly together”, “you are who you hang out with”.

I have been a complete different bird that flew with a different flock and did not realise it until my need was satisfied. Is that what life has come up to be? To adapt, integrate, fulfil the need and move on?