Friday the 18th marked the finale of five weeks of intensive training in the World of Work Training Programme. And as has been the long-standing tradition, we were sent off in style with a wonderful graduation party (pictures will be posted on our Yahoo! group page http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/blogthinking). I was filled with pride when one of our guest lecturers Roy Blumenthal (the master of creativity and blogging) standing on the table in the centre of the room (you can't expect anything less from a creative guru) declared the WOW 2007 team as being ''very employable''. He said and I quote ''these group of people right here, I would employ as a team. They work very well together''.
That right there aptly describes the camarederie between this team of twelve men and women (only four females) that came together from various fields of study in the Humanities. It was a very diverse group, predominantly from around the African continent with the exception of two members from Europe. I am very proud to have been part of this group. Together we generated so much positive energy, encouraging and assisting each other. It felt as if we had known each other for years. There was healthy competition, we each brought our individual energy and talents which contributed to our collective success as a team.
I felt very honored to have been chosen as the WOW participant of the year by the team, through a process of peer review. It was a privilege considering the quality of individuals that were in the group. Surprise! It was my night for awards, this time I shared the honor with Susan Arthur, for WOW 2007 Weblog Champion!! Thanks so much guys!! We had the opportunity to show our appreciation to the administrators of this fabulous programme, Jean Powers, lesley Emanuel (who is currently doing a Phd based on research around the World of Work Internship Programme) and Dr. Susan Van Zyl (Head of the Graduate School, Faculty of Humanities). Then we hit the dance floor and danced the night away!!
It has felt really strange in the past one week not having to go for classes, we all feel sort of in limbo. I don't suppose it will remain like that for long, very soon everyone will be off to do their internships. Everyone that is but me. I will be leaving for the United States in August. I won a one year scholarship to Bard University in upstate New York, in Environmental Policy. I will be blogging about my experience over there. So, watch this space!! I have not forgotten my promise to reflect more extensively on what I benefitted from participating in the WOW 2007 Training and Internship Programme.
3 comments:
Dear Ijeoma, a very sincere confession. I will really miss you and everybody in this group a lot! In fact, for me, yesterday was one of the best and the worst days of my life.
I enjoyed sharing this time with you, my friends- in fact, some of the best people I've ever met. It has been only one month and yet i feel as if we have always been a family. I'll never forget what we did together, what relationships we developed and what each one of you left in my heart.
However, this experience yesterday also made me sad. Unfortunately, great moments like this are always brought to an end and who knows whether they will repeat again.
Despite that, I still remain optimistic and I believe that we will still have the opportunity to be together and share all that we have learnt. So, let's not be melancholic, but build ourselves with courage and confidence.
We will be together still and we will be always strong! This has just been only the beginning!
Yip, only the beginning!
Thanks for all your input to the group, for being so organised and friendly. I look forward to reading about the States in your blog, and good luck for the future!
Congrats on your awards.
Hello Valentin,Susan,
It has been a great pleasure meeting both of you, and being part of the team. I cannot quantify what I have learnt from these five weeks, particularly from team members. I find both of you 'deep thinkers', provocative and insightful. Keep it up. And thank you for always posting comments on my blog.
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