Career, Education, Student Finance, Startup and Gap Year Features

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Get Educated; Published: 24 July 2013; Last Updated: 06 April 2016

An Education Revolution

The Big Question - why are students and scholars not getting it right the first time?

Be it the classroom, lecture or seminar room – wherever the place may be – individuals often struggle to grasp complex concepts the first time around. Though the reasons may vary sometimes...from external factors to basic attention spans, there are a whole list of given factors!

For a long time parents, guardians and even teachers/lecturers have been pushing on students and scholars to engage with extra/private tutoring outside of the normal education setups (schools, universities, colleges etc.). Sure an extra bit of grounding helps but concepts not being grasped the first time around opens up a lot of questions. With so many people to cater for in one venue, the concept of capturing an individual's attention can be tricky.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Careers and Popular Culture; Published: 18 July 2013; Last Updated: 26 November 2015

World champion surfer and best-selling author Shaun Tomson releases The Code (Gibbs Smith, $16.99, Hardcover, 136 pages, August 2013, ISBN: 978-1-4236-3429-4), a simple strategy for confronting everyday challenges and making positive, life-changing decisions. In 12 personal stories Shaun shares the power of "I Will”—a code that has carried him to the heights of professional success and helped him navigate the depths of profound grief after the loss of his teenage son, Mathew.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Get Educated; Published: 18 July 2013; Last Updated: 05 April 2016

Kids Haven

FirstStep.me found out more about the Kids Haven organisation based in South Africa from Transformational Coach Adele Pillay.

How did you get involved in Kids Haven and what is your roll in the organisation? I got involved with Kids Haven (KH) in July 1994 after the first democratic elections in South Africa. I wanted to assist in healing my country - knowing that apartheid had done so much damage to it. I started as a volunteer, at the time as a mother of two little ones, I knew my parenting skills would be useful at Kids Haven. I worked through the ranks as a volunteer to being Assistant Director (Child Care Manager) from 1994-2005.

I left for 4 years and returned to the facilitating of Youth Skills and Staff Wellness Programmes, also I assist in creating programmes for the Life Skills Department to meet the needs of children in care.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 18 July 2013; Last Updated: 15 March 2017

Before Stardom comes hard work - the rock star quest with Gary Thomas

The business of managing a band or an entertainment career of sorts has never been easy. Even solo artists and performers are becoming brands of their own – the combination of creativity with business knowledge has become a vital mix to any young person entering into this sector. Be it from an acting, music, dancing - whatever the entertainment stage maybe – an all round acumen is needed early on when building a career in this industry.

The FirstStep.me team spoke with Cape Town based musician Gary Thomas about the challenges and skills that are needed to becoming a full time performance artist.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 12 July 2013; Last Updated: 09 February 2018

Shai Reshef: Educating a planet and championing a needed solution

"...bringing millions of people to one website to receive an education of their choice.” - Shai Reshef (founder of the University of the People)

By Yashivan Govender

In a planet where problems are a many and a shortage of solutions it is difficult to imagine the grinding to a halt of the world as we know it and the sparking of a new direction…

10:30am – after juggling my phone connection I manage to get in touch with Shai Reshef, he is in New York and I am in Bavaria. The time difference is six hours - in my favour! Perhaps waking up early is an ingredient to solving the planet’s problems. But perhaps it is one of many ingredients I soon find myself thinking.