Nick Graham
South Africa-at-Large, 2002
MSc Nature, Society & Environmental Policy
MLitt Human Geography
University College
Currently a Candidate Engineer, Ninham Shand Consulting Civil Engineers
I don't think anyone knows what it is to be a Rhodes Scholar until they actually get to Oxford. It is such a privilege and a life-changing experience. Many people apply for what I think are the wrong reasons: they don't know what to do after university, the prestige of the scholarship, or the perception that the Scholarship guarantees ‘success' in life. I won't claim that my motives did not include some of the above, but what captured my interest in the scholarship was the experience of being able to follow what ever discipline one wants in the company of so many talented people from all over the world, and the way in which this can broaden a person.
What I have benefited most from being here are things that never occurred to me when I first applied. For example, I have learned so much more about South Africa and its history than I ever did at home. Through the MSc in Nature, Society and Environmental Policy I was exposed to ideas in politics, economics, philosophy that had never occurred to me while studying Civil Engineering at UCT. I have no doubt that I now have a vastly different view of the world. I am currently undertaking research in informal settlement policy in Cape Town for an MLitt in Urban Geography at Oxford. While I still intend to practice as an engineer, my experiences here have left me more committed to contribute to social development in South Africa through whatever work I do.