Get To Know Us: Ms. Thando Xaba, Strategic Communication Intern

Date: Nov 30, 2022 | School of Communication, School of Communication News and Events, Strategic Communication News

1. Please give a short bio of yourself.

I am an Award-Winning Digital Campaigner, the academic campaign (#AdoptAFirstYearPRStudent Initiative) that I conceptualized and executed representing the University of Johannesburg (UJ) won a silver PRISM Award under the Student Campaign of The Year category at the 2022 Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) PRISM Awards.

I am a Student Member of the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), which is a professional body for the PR and communications industry in Southern Africa. I am a UJ alumni and hold a diploma in Public Relations and Communication, which I obtained in 2022 and I am currently serving in various organizations, which include:

• An intern at the UJ Strategic Communications Department, under the Faculty of Humanities.
• 2022 PRISM Judge at the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA).
• the 2022 Co-Programme Manager of the Female Leadership Programme at the International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY).

I am a 2021 Burson Cohn & Wolfe (BCW) Africa Starting Blocks Academy Alumni, a 2020 International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)-Female Leadership Academy Alumni and a 2019 Young African Leadership Initiative Southern Africa (YALI SA) Alumni.

Furthermore, in 2021, I served in various organizations, which include:

• Friedrich Naumann Foundation Africa (FNF Africa), as the Host for the Check Your Freedom mini-TV programme series
• Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), PRISM Young Voices (PYV) 2021 Young Judge
• International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)-Female Leadership, as the 2021 Co-Programme Manager
• Young African Leadership Initiative Southern Africa (YALI SA), Applications reviewer

In 2020, I served in the following various capacities at the University of Johannesburg:

• 2020/21 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Student’s Public Relations Associations (UJ SPRA), as the President /Chairperson
• 2020 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Interim Central Student Representative Council (SRC), as the Secretary-General
• 2020 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Remember and Give (RAG), as the Chairperson.

2. Tell us about your educational background. Which institution did you study at? What did you major in? Why did you choose this institution?

I am a UJ alumni and hold a diploma in Public Relations and Communication. I majored in Public Relations and Communication.

I chose UJ because I wanted to learn to be independent, develop, and grow academically, professionally, and personally.

3. How has your journey at the University of Johannesburg been?

Personally, it took time for me to accept that I have been afforded an opportunity to study at UJ, and my main goal was to ensure that not only do I pass the qualification that I enrolled for, but I develop personally and professionally.

When I came to UJ in my first year, I was shy and an introvert, I challenged myself to break out of my shell by availing myself to be a class representative for the extended programme class. I also became active in a few activities which included Community Engagement volunteering and first-year activities at the on-campus residence that I stayed at (Gauta female residences)

I also started to be an active student from my first year until my final year, I participated in various on and off-academic activities.

In a nutshell, my journey was not easy as it had its own challenges, but I had to overcome some of those challenges and ensure that my journey turns out to be amazing. I made the best out of every opportunity that was granted to me.

4. What role/s have you played in the institution?

In 2020, I served in the following various capacities at the University of Johannesburg:

• 2020/21 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Student’s Public Relations Associations (UJ SPRA), as the President /Chairperson
• 2020 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Interim Central Student Representative Council (SRC), as the Secretary-General
• 2020 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Remember and Give (RAG), as the Chairperson.

2019 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Remember And Give (RAG), as the External Community Services Officer.

5. What role/s have you played in the Department of Strategic Communication?

As an Award-Winning Digital Campaigner, the academic campaign (#AdoptAFirstYearPRStudent Initiative) that I conceptualized and executed representing the University of Johannesburg won a silver PRISM Award under the Student Campaign of The Year category at the 2022 Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) PRISM Awards.

In 2020, I served in the following various capacities at the University of Johannesburg:

• 2020/21 University of Johannesburg (UJ) Student’s Public Relations Associations (UJ SPRA), as the President /Chairperson

6. What encouraged you into pursuing a career in Strategic Communication?

I love working behind the scenes and ensuring that things fall into place. In April 2017 I came across a learnership opportunity from the Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (Gauteng DID) to work at the Sedibeng District Municipality- Disaster Management Unit, under the Community Services Cluster). Some of my duties as a learner included complying with working with events while complying with the Safety at Sports and Recreation Act, administration duties, organisational abilities, responding to emergency services.

At times because of my activeness and wanting to learn more, I would be of assistance at the Office of the Speaker and/ or the Office of the Executive Mayor because those two offices were actively involved in conceptualising events.

Three months later, I then I decided to enrol to study PR and communications at the University of Johannesburg. I am grateful for the opportunity because had it not been for the learnership opportunity, I would not have been able to be studying PR and communication.

Looking back, I made the best and most informative decision ever by choosing to study at UJ.

7. What are some of the challenges you have faced while pursuing your career/qualification in Strategic Communication?

Personally, I was very shy and introvert, and overcoming self-doubt.

Academically, it was adapting to the academic fast paced workload in my first year and in my final year it was securing an internship both at the public and private sector.

8. Please share the projects you have been involved in recently. [What are some of the societal issues you have identified? How have you used your expertise to help solve them?

UJ Faculty of Humanities Project

Currently, I am working on a UJ Faculty of Humanities Project which is a Student Wellness Project, and I am starting it from scratch.

As the Faculty of Humanities, we saw it fit to demonstrate that we care about the students in the Humanities discipline, and we are committed to establishing a Faculty Project in a form of a Student Wellness Programmes (SWP) which addresses the psychological support, academic support, and financial support needs to the students.

Before we are academic scholars or professionals in our respective professions; we are human beings and in our life journey, we all have our own personal stories that demonstrated act of kindness of how someone showed an element of uBuntu contributing to the people we are today.

The Faculty Project, specifically a Student Wellness Programme (SWP) which aims to focuses on the following aspects:

Psychological support

• To support both the undergraduate and postgraduate students psychologically and emotionally by collaborating with internal stakeholders such as the PsyCad, Student Affairs.

Academic support

• To support both the undergraduate and postgraduate students academically by collaborating with internal stakeholders such as the tutors, the Library and Academic Development Centre.

Emotional support

• To support both the undergraduate and postgraduate students emotionally by encouraging students to look after their emotional wellbeing through activities such as yoga.
• The emotional support will be in collaboration with internal stakeholders such as PsyCad, Student Affairs, the Sports Bureau and externally with the yogis.

Financial support

• To support the undergraduate students financially by collaborating with both internal and external stakeholders, to raise funds for the ‘missing middle’ undergraduate students.

Student safety support

• To provide student safety support by providing awareness campaigns to both the undergraduate and postgraduate students.
• The support will be through the collaborating with internal stakeholders such as the PsyCad, Student Affairs, Protection Services.
• The external support will be through the CoJ’s Public Safety department.

Skills development support

• To support both the undergraduate and postgraduate students psychologically and emotionally by collaborating with internal stakeholders such as the PsyCad, Student Affairs

The Student Wellness Programme (SWP) is coordinated through the Faculty of Humanities’ Department of Strategic communications and the Faculty project is centred around the uBuntu philosophy.

#ADOPTAFIRSTYEARPRSTUDENT INITIATIVE: INVOLVING PR STUDENTS, GRADUATES, PR INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS

The Covid-19 era has presented many challenges and in the academic space, first- and second-year students have and are facing difficulties which include adjusting and navigating through their way to online academic teaching and learning and time management. As third and final-year PR students from the University of Johannesburg, we took it upon ourselves to mentor and assist first- and second-year students during the pandemic era through the #AdoptFirstYearPRStudent Initiative.

Furthermore, as students, we realized that it is important to advocate for career mentoring which will benefit final-year students and graduates, as well as have thought-provoking conversations on issues like graduate unemployment affecting the youth.

#AdoptFirstYearPRStudent Initiative is an initiative by PR students, for PR students and graduates. This is not just a short-term campaign initiative but a long-term initiative, which focuses on firstly, mentoring for 1st and 2^nd-year students, and secondly, advocating for career mentoring which will benefit final-year students and graduates, as well as engaging in thought-provoking conversations that affect the youth.

The reason why we are dedicating ourselves to this initiative is that we want to bridge the gap between PR students, graduates, and PR professionals as well as positive impact on one’s life. The initiative aims to advocate for career mentoring, engage in thought-provoking conversations on social issues like high graduate unemployment, and engage about what the professional body for PR is doing to empower and prepare PR final students and graduates for the workplace.

The initiative objectives:

• To bridge a gap between PR students, graduates, and PR professionals.
• Advocate for the importance of career mentoring
• Bring together PR students from private and public institutions.
• Allow students to engage with the PR professionals.

As part of the online engagements, we engaged with various PR professionals in the African continent and internationally. In South Africa we engaged with the likes of Mr Mabine Seabe, who is a professional communicator with a vast of experience in the communications industry; and beyond the SA borders, we engaged with an award-winning and accredited Publicist based in New York, USA, Ms Sandra Nnaji as well as Mr Thandolwenkosi Nkomo, who serves as a member of the Zimbabwe Institute of Public Relations (ZIPR) and lecturer and Strategic Communications Consultant at the National University of Science and Technology in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Furthermore, we hosted a ‘round-table’ discussion on MS Teams, to discuss inter alia ‘Should the PR and Communications industry be regulated?’. The panel consisted of academics from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and Vaal University of Technology (VUT), as well as the student leaders from the PR & Communications students’ association from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) and the University of South Africa (UNISA). Both the panel and audience raised valid points and contributions; hence the event was a success.

The academic campaign (#AdoptAFirstYearPRStudent Initiative) that I conceptualized and executed representing the University of Johannesburg won a silver PRISM Award under the Student Campaign of The Year category at the 2022 Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA) PRISM Awards.

9. What advice would you give to UJ Strategic Communication Alumni starting their careers in the industry?

Do not doubt yourself. It is very important that you believe in yourself, and your ideas and that you can achieve what you want. There will be moments when you feel tired and not looking forward to doing something, so take a break and continue working on your craft. Lastly, learn to see the bigger picture in any situation that you come across.