Lauren is a lecturer in the Corporate Governance and Auditing team. She strives to enable students to feel empowered and positive throughout their academic journey, through the creation of a supportive learning environment. Lauren completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Monash University South Africa, where she also spent a year as an academic trainee. She is currently completing her Master’s in Commerce at the University of Johannesburg. In her free time, she loves reading fiction books, spending time with her dogs outdoors and making candles.
My alma mater
Monash University South Africa
Personal and professional goals
Professionally, I believe that you have found your intended career path once the job you do never feels like work.
When I was appointed as an academic trainee in 2018, I realised that my professional goal was to be and grow in the academic space. This goal is ongoing, and I aspire to learn and grow as a lecturer in the postgraduate space.
Personally, which links closely to my professional goals, is that I aspire to remain inquisitive and continue to learn.
A relevant achievement or accomplishment – including professional and other qualifications
Publishing a journal article during my year as an academic trainee with my colleagues.
Overview of qualifications, skills and areas of expertise
- Registered CA(SA) with SAICA
- Postgraduate diploma in Accounting – Monash University
- Bachelor in Accounting – Monash University
Why are you proud to be a part of the CA Connect team?
I was lectured by the CA Connect team as a student back in 2017. I was immediately struck by the sense of community and focus on equipping the students with life skills and not just academic knowledge, which was a valuable part of my PGDA year. This approach made all the difference, one that is not all that common in the learning environment. I’m therefore so excited to be a part of the team and learn as much as I can from everyone.
Which of the CAC Values appeal to you the most and why? (Real, Care, Learn)
Care. Students will always remember the lecturers who made a difference in their journey (as more than just providing the academic content) as opposed to lecturers who were only technically sound. Showing care to students who are undoubtedly facing a lot of pressure from a challenging course, makes a difference in their experience.
Explain if and why education has the power to change South Africa?
Education is empowerment and opens up so many opportunities for the individual that otherwise may not have been available. Education develops and cultivates problem solvers who can then go on to create change.
What does the CA(SA) qualification represent to you?
The qualification represents opportunity. There are so many paths that a qualified CA(SA) can pursue, so while the journey is tough, there is so much reward at the end of it.
If you think of the word “successful,” who is the first person that comes to mind and why?
The first person that comes to mind is Dr Laurie Santos. She is a psychology lecturer at Yale university who teaches a course on happiness, that is now the most popular course in Yale’s history. At first thought one is often tempted to equate happiness with loads of money and impressive job titles, but once the subject gets broken down it becomes clear that happiness is nothing we thought it would be. To have challenged common perceptions about happiness on a wide scale and to have made the research findings on happiness accessible and consumable by people who are not in the field of psychology is a mark of success in my eyes.
If you could put up a saying on a banner that was displayed around the country, what would it say and why?
“In a world where so many are throwing bricks on others, be the one who builds bridges with them” —Emma Xu
What does the future of education look like to you?
Flexible and across borders, made possible by online learning, to suit the changing circumstances of students.
If you had to define the role of a “teacher”, what would it say?
Teachers support students on their learning journey, by not only providing subject related content in an understandable manner, but by also recognizing that the student’s education is not only confined to the classroom, but that the students will take their learnings into the world, and therefore a teacher is also essential in equipping students with real world knowledge and skills that they can use to make a difference in their lives and others.