Discovering New Horizons: My Journey with diiVe

I first got to know about the diiVe internship program in 2021 from the MasterCard foundation scholarship. At first I was not interested because it was not in line with my program that I was pursuing which is International Relations. I dismissed the opportunity because I felt like it was outside my scope? and I knew nothing about consulting back then. Later that year again I got an email from diiVe that Noncedo Shongwe nominated me as a viable candidate for the program. She’s my friend from Imagine Scholar, she attended the diiVe program in 2021 and ever since then I’ve been getting emails urging me to apply.?

Until recently I got an email in early March that I should apply for this opportunity and I finally decided to give it a try. Having graduated from university last year in June 2022, I have been working on my personal growth and improving my employability skills. I see myself as someone who is very adaptive and can work in any environment. I have always been fascinated with the idea of exploring different skills and career fields. I am still on the journey of self-discovery and I believe working in different fields to get working experience can help me to discover my real passion. As a recent graduate, it is imperative to be open minded and explore as many internships/jobs as possible. Seeing that I am already on my job hunting journey, I saw diiVe as a good opportunity to partake in because of my hopes to gain more working experience and to build up my CV. That is how I finally became part of the diiVe summer program 2023 cohort. It has been nothing but an experience of a lifetime that I will always look back and cherish.?

This week I’m busy preparing for the final client? presentation on the 27th of July 2023.? I am?working on a sustainability project with my team. We were tasked to come up with their income model that will make a new food educational center self-sustainable and break-even while maintaining its sustainability commitments and social impact. It's a very interesting project because our client is an NGO that firmly believes in their core values and commitment to education on sustainable food circular systems,?and values impact over profit. I will say my experience through diiVe has been a bit challenging both in a negative and positive way.? Being out of school for a year meant that my brain was now in slumber mode, so taking up this intensive program for the first two weeks was very challenging because it was hard for me to fully concentrate and be effective when it comes to reading materials. I am grateful for those reading materials and reflection exercises though, because they got me out of the slumber mode. It’s finally good to have my brain be as productive.??

Working in teams has been a bit interesting because I get to learn from different people from different backgrounds.? I get to learn new ways of doing things. I get to hear more diverse opinions on similar issues. I've learned a lot from my teammates how to manage a project, how to communicate effectively and how to give constructive feedback. Being part of diiVe, I have gotten used? to getting comfortable with doing the uncomfortable.? It has really taken me out of my comfort zone in the sense that through diiVe I’ve managed to create new friendships, chance to expand my professional network through the mentors that I’ve interacted with. I have had the opportunity to attend workshop trainings?that has helped me prepare and thrive in the professional world. Through the resume coaching training I have learned that it is important to always tailor my CV to the specific job I am applying to and that there is no such thing as a ‘All size fits all’ type of CV.? It made me realise all the things I was doing wrong in my job hunting process. My takeaway from that training and one-on-one meeting with Elspeth is that the job hunting process needs a lot of commitment and consistency while also reaching out to people to build that professional network?for that job.?

diiVe is giving me more than what I have anticipated.?I get to do things that I’m really not comfortable with like presenting because my team decided that everyone is going to present.? I’ve always struggled with public speaking and presentations in general because of my social anxieties. Being part of an amazing, supportive team though, I’ve gotten to actually challenge myself to speak my mind and even presented during our first client presentation.? I feel like I have grown a lot and slowly but surely I’m getting more comfortable in getting my opinions and ideas heard. Through diiVe I have?realised some strengths that I never thought I had, like asking good questions and paying attention to details which my team have commended me for. Although I am one of the research leads in my team, I have? grown and gotten so comfortable with my team that I find myself cross functioning in other roles.? I feel like I have contributed to many aspects of the project and a fair amount of ideas to make our project what it is today. I am confident in my team and I am proud of the contributions that I’ve made in the progress of our? project and meeting our team deliverables.?

I am very grateful for this opportunity, the diiVe team, mentors, and fellow mates in the cohort. With all the training workshops and self-reflection exercises, I feel empowered and confident in my strengths and capabilities to a certain extent.? I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life.

Florence Mdluli is a MasterCard Foundation Scholar 2018 Cohort, recently graduated with a Bachelors of Science (Honours) in International Relations at Africa University, Zimbabwe. She is a graduate of Imagine Scholar, a highly selective mentorship and leadership development program for youth in the Nkomazi region in South Africa.