By Fahdia Msaka
I am Fahdia Msaka and I am 21 years old. Strand, Cape Town, is where I was born and raised.
I matriculated at Madrastur Rajaa High School in 2019, and I attended the University of the Western Cape for my Bachelor of Arts degree. Since primary school, I dreamt of being in a position where I could inspire and motivate young minds. For a very long time, I believed the place where the real change occurred was at schools for a very long time, and so I wanted to be a teacher.
After I obtained my undergraduate qualification, I realized the only way I could genuinely inspire young minds to change was if I lived my life to my fullest potential. This would place me in a position where I was able to make difficult situations more attainable. That is how I found myself in Makhanda at Rhodes University pursuing my postgraduate diploma in Journalism and Media Studies. My goal is to attain a qualification that will allow me to understand the world so that when I am ready to go out and inspire, I can bring about real change.
Working at Grocott’s Mail has opened my eyes to see the world for what it is. Media practitioners are the intermediaries between those who run the world and those who passively exist. I know the true extent of mass media’s influence. I believe that original people with genuinely original ideas and belief systems are scarce.
Going forward, I think my knowledge will put me in a position to truly prepare the young minds I will encounter to get by in this world. It will allow me to point out and nurture talent, and encourage young minds to have a different perspective instead of blindly accepting and following the masses.
(Fahdia Msaka is a 2023 Grocott’s Mail student journalist, studying for a postgraduate Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies).
