Snothando Mthimunye
Snothando describes herself as a “Quaintrelle- a woman who emphasizes a life of passion expressed through personal style, charm, and a cultivation of life's pleasures”. She is most passionate about “shifting the African narrative and doing [her] part to use [her] talents and skills to redefine who we are as Africans”. Combined with a love for entertaining people, Snothando has big plans and sees herself being in the television space. She graduated in 2016 with a BA (Hons) in Media Theory and Practice. Snothando currently works as a publicist at a multi-award winning agency called Capacity Relations. She has achieved many career highlights already: working at Cape Town's top PR & Marketing Agencies as an Account Manager where she managed brands such as Sunglass Hut, Red Bull, Luxottica, and Happy Socks; working with the Expresso Morning Show as a panellist on a segment titled “Fashion Fix” alongside top fashion industry people; working closely with Cardova as the style reporter on the SABC 3 show “Presenter Search on 3”. She also made it in the top 12 of the MTV Base VJ search in 2017 which to her “solidified to me that I was born to be on television”.
Snothando believes that her degree has definitely equipped her with valuable writing, communication, and journalistic skills that are so vital in her career. She asserts that “the flawed perception that studying a degree in the Humanities Department won't get you a job is exactly that- it’s flawed, not true. What you do with your degree, together with passion, will determine your success and not the degree itself”. She has fond memories of enlightening courses where she says “we explored literature I never knew was even available and discussed topics that vastly shaped my identity as well”.
She advises incoming students to “explore and get involved with as much as possible at the university. I tried out so many societies, courses, clubs etc which really helped with enhancing my university experience. Get ready to be challenged but to grow as an individual. You going to make so many mistakes but those mistakes are literally going to shape the person you will become as an adult. Do not sell yourself short by only focusing on getting that degree. Yes, of course, that is critical to why you are at University but also give yourself periods to truly take in each moment, build life-long friendships, and explore your passions and talents whilst you still have the liberty to do so”.
Picture credit: Lwando Mxutu