Experienced academic professional and interdisciplinary researcher with five years administrative experience in student leadership, who is passionate about educational development and improving access to higher education. This culminated in the historic election at Stellenbosch University as Student body President in 2015, and later receiving the Mandela Rhodes scholarship in 2016.

Having studied in three degrees from three continents, I am acutely aware of the challenges that international students face when pursuing a degree abroad, and this experience provided me the opportunity to engage with people from various cultural backgrounds. Such a cultural agility has provided me strong interpersonal skills that can engage with people from all walks of life.

Outside of higher education, I have volunteered in many community outreach projects like assisting high school students with reading English, after school activities for primary school children, and a religious mission to India/Nepal. This highlights not only my local and international efforts of helping through charity work but also my own passion for outreach and development outside the “ivory tower” of academia. Though I consider myself to be a teacher at heart, it is my belief that our skills and insight should benefit and support all flesh-and-blood humans regardless of the social locations and life circumstances.

Finally, in 2019 I was awarded the Leverhulme Mandela Rhodes Doctoral Scholarship to complete a PhD degree in the United Kingdom. The scholarship award gave me the opportunity to further develop my teaching skills as a tutor of undergraduate courses, student coordination as Secretary of the Postgraduate student committee, and event organisation when I was facilitated the Black History Month celebrations in October 2021 for a University faculty. I was later nominated for the student teaching awards in the ‘Teacher of the Year’ in 2022.