Tweet by Manka S. Angwafo* Good science should have no boundaries. That was the strong message from Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, the European commissioner for research, last month at the Berlin 10 Open Access Conference at Stellenbosch University. The significance of open access for Africa cannot be overstated. Recent available data reveals that only about 27,000 articles…
Tweet *Gcobani Qambela I just cannot believe how fast this year went by. I am not even halfway through my list of things that I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year. Like any other year, this one had its highs, but definitely also followed with its own lows. When the lows came,…
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Tweet By: Sikhumbuzo Nxumalo* What an incredible year I have had! This year was my fourth year at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) George Campus in South Africa, where I have been studying towards a bachelor’s degree in Forest Engineering and Environmental Management in the Faculty of Science (under the School of Natural Resource…
Tweet By: Bose Maposa* The classroom can be a scary place, and in the past year I have come to know just how scary it can be- with nightmares as my companions. As a student, one mostly worries about learning and how this will affect one’s grade. But being a teacher there is a multiplication…
Tweet By Merrian B. Medical residency is a lot like adolescence. It’s a time when you are as smart as much as you ever will but lacking the maturity that only time produces. You’ lack the youth you might have had as a student, but you are definitely not yet an elder. This is my…
Tweet By: Siphokazi Magadla* I was surprised when my brother chose to study Politics at university. I was even more surprised that he chose to study it at the university that I teach in. Unlike me, a person who is forever animated by national and global events, my brother channels his emotions mostly to his…
Tweet By: Itumeleng Ntatamala, MBChB* I stand on the brink of a momentous occasion in my life. I will today, the 12/12/12 at 10am graduate as a medical doctor. Reflecting on the years gone by I cannot but help wonder what could have been of this Limpopo born lad; the son of a widow, had…
Tweet By: Thandeka Heather Dube* “Where do you get these children from”, the secretary asks. “Silvertown”, I say to her. “Where is that?” she continues to ask. I was shocked! The secretary who had lived in Queenstown for 25 years did not know Silvertown or where it was located. Silvertown, the squatter camp is literally…
Tweet By: Athambile Masola* I have become a self-righteous adult who has survived the army of teenagers that I have been in battle with for almost eleven months. I have almost survived my first year of teaching teenagers. I don’t envy those who have to be teenagers in 2012. As a survivor I have also…
Tweet By Nadia Ahmadou* It’s hard to believe it’s been already a year since my last BLF reflection on the passion required to make it through the final stretch of an MA. The last year has gone by rather quickly, and I find myself transitioning once again. The difference this time, is that I’m transitioning…
