We employ postgraduate students from all Health Sciences disciplines who undergo on-site and monthly training when employed. Consultants or tutors use reflective practices in our training and for their professional development. They are employed on a paid-on-claim basis working 10 hours per week and taking leave in consultation with the co-ordinator (annually recruited from October).
Consultants move on to occupy various spaces from academia to industry. Read what they have to say about their experiences as a consultant.
Dr. Emmanuel Nwosu (2016-2020)
As the curtain falls on this phase…
We always start a journey without knowing exactly how it will end, but you hope to come out in one piece and touch people’s lives positively along the way. That is my story as a writing consultant or coach (whichever you prefer). I was straight from a master’s degree and starting a doctorate, with my eye on finishing in record time. Yes! It was my PhD that inspired me to apply to work at the Health Sciences Writing Lab.
Our clients always ask me, “why did you pick this job?”. Well, I didn’t apply for the job because I was sure of academic literacy and writing skills and wanted to talk about supporting others. No, I didn’t! Instead, the opposite is true. I had heard that the PhD was going to test my writing abilities to the core, so I decided that the best way to face this ‘insurmountable’ challenge was to throw myself at it and learn. I decided that by exposing myself to all sorts of academic genres, I would become comfortable with academic literacy and excel in my PhD. So, for me, working at Writing Lab was motivated by the need to learn and, in retrospect, I am glad for choosing that part of learning; I don’t know if I have overcome all my fears yet, but I do know that I have gained by waking up every day and doing this job (even during the pandemic and lockdown).
I will say though that what I hadn’t anticipated was the fulfilling experience I would have in meeting everyday people in UCT Health Sciences and other faculties within the consultation space. I shared in their struggles to becoming better writers, their ‘melt down’ moments when they’d received negative feedback from supervisors, and their anxiety during task analysis sessions. And what about the high-school leavers who stumble into the ‘Becoming a Professional’ (BP) course and portfolio essays without the slightest idea of the academic essay genre? I remember moments in the consultation room when the space became tense and the writing task became confusing, yet we often found a solution in the end. Truly, it wasn’t just about the ‘glooms’, but also the ‘glamours’.
Moments of happiness, joy, and sense of fulfilment. Clients coming back for another appointment because the previous one helped them receive positive feedback from supervisors or higher marks (although we don’t measure academic development by marks). Clients dropping off cards or sending emails to say ‘Thank you!’ for the writing support because they have passed their thesis or assessment. Clients meeting you on the road and saying thank you because the grant proposal for their PhD studies that you helped with was successful. I will never forget an experience that I had on public transport when I met a friendly ‘stranger’ who was all smiles once she saw me. Just when I was about to ask where we had met, she apologized for not coming back to thank the Writing Lab, and me in particular, for all the help received during the process of writing up her master’s thesis. She said, “You won’t believe it, but my thesis came back with only minor corrections and a distinction!”. These were the moments I lived for. These moments brought me back to the Writing Lab every day. Knowing that we are helping everyday ordinary people, like ourselves, to find their feet and voices in the academic space, and navigate the rigorous process of writingin academia, made all the difference.
And yet, there comes a moment when the curtain falls, and here I am now.
I want to put it on record that I enjoyed working in this space. I enjoyed working with the entire Writing Lab Team – Natashia, Taahira, Nonto, Sli and Nonku. I learnt a lot working on different projects and workshops with all of you. I will miss the intellectual engagement of our journal club a lot. I will miss my clients and the consultation space. It has been a great learning space for me, and I want to share some of the most important things I have learnt:
- Sometimes, what you call a ‘disadvantage’ may be an opportunity for self-development and an opportunity to help others develop. Who else can talk about this better than myself? Academic literacy was never my strong point, but here I am since 2016, supporting others in their writing journeys.
- No one is a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ writer. Practice and the quest for development is what makes all the difference (I am sure that most of my clients will agree with me on this one).
- Critical feedback is not just an accessory but is important for academic writing development. Even when given in bad faith, it can aid in making you a better writer.
- Some of the best feedback that will nudge you in the right direction for development may initially look “too” critical, until you change the lens you are looking at it with.
- The consultation is an engagement and discussion space where both the giver and receiver of feedback can learn.
These are just a few off the top of my head.
The question now is, “where are you going from here?”. Sincerely, that question reminds me of the foggy days in Cape Town, when you can barely see just ahead of you. I don’t know too much about the journey ahead, but I know enough to say that the next phase is starting with a Postdoctoral position that will help in developing policies to fight adolescent obesity in South Africa.
Please wish me well AS THE CURTAIN FALLS ON THIS PHASE, and A NEW ONE BEGINS. Okay, I am done!
Thank you, Emmanuel