BSc Mechanical Engineering

I personally think that Pragma has a very informative student program to offer. Any student who experienced it knows what I am talking about. The level of investment made by the company to their employees is exceptionally high. Within a period of just 3 weeks we learned a lot, both about ourselves and the company. And that was an interesting thing because as we were being introduced into their business model, it became very easy to identify our potential roles in the company. That was interesting.In terms of the engineering practise, the work was project based. We were involved in an on going project (UPS Maintenance Implementation & AIV) for the City of Cape Town's Water Department. The goal was to identify and locate all UPS units in the Water and Sanitation Department, and implement an asset management strategy. This was a very interesting role and I liked the flexibility of being at the office and on the road at any moment. As a result, I became fond of our project leader, Mr Francois Conradie, because he is good at his job. For example, while we were taking out our note pads and pens to write down the tiny serial numbers of the UPSs, he simply took out his smartphone and took a picture of the whole information and said, "And... were done.". A lesson on efficiency.

My role was assisting Grade 10-12 scholars with Maths, Circular Geometry and Physics, in preparation for their final exams. Teachme2 is an on line based company and allows the flexibility to arrange meetings conveniently.

During this period I was doing my Basic Military Training, as part of the University Reserve Training Programme (URTP 2014). I learned invaluable lessons about myself. Discipline, cleanliness, teamwork, endurance are just a few. This was a very good foundational experience that allowed me to build a strong personality upon.During this time we were introduced to the military. Most people see a soldier and think guns and war. I see strength, discipline, focus, stealth, high morale and alertness. The experience offered by the SA Navy is a life changing one.

My role at Life Choices is tutoring my learners as well as to share my experience as a University student. Main responsibilities were:-Assist learners to get a better understanding in High School Maths and Geography. -Encourage and motivate learners to put some effort on their studies and feel confident about themselves.-Assist them with University entrance application process.

-introduce new fun methods of mastering Grade 5 Math to Grade 5 learners.-Assist the Grade 5 learners in any schoolwork that they are struggling with.-Have LOADS of FUN with them and help them build up their confidence.-Learn their behavior and home background, then report any suspicious behavior to the Assessment team.

During this period, I was very lucky to gain insight into the operations of a sugar processing mill at Illovo. One of the main lessons I learned there, besides the engineering processes, was the importance of safety. The company has gone all out to ensure safety regulations are strictly followed by its employees. Even though the working environment is fast and a lot of processes are run at the same time, they still manage to keep things running smooth.And I must say that the sugar production process looks nice and neat on paper. It's easy to understand and follow the individual processes involved. Plus the workers there really know how the whole process runs. It just wasn't what I expected to see in terms of technology advancement. I also noticed that there was too much paper work in the way of real work. It was a brief introduction to the world of fast engineering, and I enjoyed the thrill. I feel like if I am to excel in such an industry, I have to take my time and carefully follow the sugar from entrance to exit in that continuity. Then I would have to go out to the sugar cane fields as well, to understand the agriculture part of it. Only then would I be ready to start working.