On a roll: Honours student already working on MSc

Despite needing a wheelchair to get around UCT's mountainous campus, Daniel Holgate has achieved an Honours in Computer Science and has already started working towards his Master's degree.

Always interested in problem solving, Daniel was drawn to programming as a way to use various technologies to help people, having himself benefitted from it. "It also seemed like a degree that would lead to job opportunities that would be practically possible for someone in a wheelchair and not require being in the office all day every day," says Daniel.

His studies were not without challenges, particularly when loadshedding caused problems with the elevators on campus. Another has been the strain put on his hands by some of the bigger programming projects. However, some of the universty's accessibility strategies helped. "It can be tiring just being on campus, but with lectures generally being recorded and having notetakers I have been able to rest by just staying at home sometimes which has made that manageable," says Daniel.

He has already started working on his Master's by dissertation in Computer Science with the aim of assessing whether computer science research could be what he wants to pursue as a career. Academia is appealing as it would allow Daniel both to do research as well as to teach and share with others what he has learnt. In particular, he is keen to do research into how we can use software and technology to improve the lives of those in South Africa.

With regards to advice to other students, Daniel urges them not to close themselves off to directions they think they may never take. Also, he warns against spending all your time working, even if you can. Instead, invest in friendships on campus and enjoy life, while giving the best in your studies, looking for meaning in things over and above academic life.

He is grateful for the help provided by UCT's Disability Services. "I have absolutely loved my time studying at UCT. And that has been possible thanks to two main things. Firstly, I have only got this far thanks to the incredible lengths Disability Services and my departments, particularly Computer Science, have gone to to make things work well for me. I cannot thank all the people enough who have helped in this journey and made it possible for me to integrate and be involved. But also my faith and the support I have received from God, the strength to get through and being able to have my identity in something outside of my studies. And maybe faith isn’t something everyone has, but I think we all need something bigger than our work and ourselves to get the most out of life and ensure that whether this test or exam goes well or not we are able to live joyfully and continue on and ultimately enjoy our studies and truly learn all that we can from them, no matter what your personal worldview is and whether that differs to mine or not."