Theresa Potlaki, who currently works at Sasol as a senior technical advisor, believes that the Sasol bursary that put her through her Mechanical Engineering studies at university prepared her for the real world of work.
The annual bursary is targeted at matrics with a keen interest in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) who are looking to study engineering.
A sense of confidence is key, "The most important thing for me was the selection process in the beginning because once you go through that selection process, it is an ego booster that you will need to get into tertiary. As soon as you go into tertiary, you are going to be meeting a whole lot of people who don't need bursaries and have parents that have paid for them. They didn't have to go through any interviews, but you still have to compete with them in terms of the course work," she explains.
The bursary covers full tuition while also exposing you to real work environments during your studies. Bursaries are also available for postgraduate students and students already enrolled in STEM fields at public universities.
"By going through the initial stages of the assessment for the bursary, that's when you start having the idea that engineering is not just this fictious thing I am thinking about; you start getting exposed to the types of engineering. By the time you get into tertiary, then you sort of have an idea of what mechanical engineering looks like because they (Sasol) ask you what you want to do," she continues.
Thereafter Potlaki chose to pursue Mechanical Engineering and hasn’t looked back, "There is vacation work that is available, and while you are studying, you get exposed to the real world of work, and you have an idea of what will be expected of you when you are done. There are different opportunities that will be available for you based on what you are studying," explains Potlaki.
An important element of the bursary for Potlaki was the support system it created for her while she was studying at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, "You are not only talking about your coursework. You also talk about how you are coping. All they want is to make sure you are coping, and you are passing. The bursary is not only about the money. There is a human element to it that looks at how you are coping. Every semester there is a check-in process," she says. It is this kind of immersive experience that fosters learning.
Potlaki has called on all aspiring engineers and visioners to apply for the bursary so that they can also be part of building the future. She believes the fact that Sasol is proudly South African is what sets it apart from its competitors, “There are a lot of projects that we are working on now for the future, even though we are not going to be in the future,” she says. This is for a future for everyone, even those who don’t want to take Engineering, “We are living through the projects that were started back in the day, and as engineers today, we are doing the same thing for future generations,” she explains.
For more information, visit www.sasolbursaries.com.
This post was sponsored by Sasol and produced by Adspace Studio.
