“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

- Mark Twain

Firstly, big apologies from my side for being one of the silent bloggers of the SAWIP team of 2011. Due to technical difficulties I was not able to access my blog, but now here I am ready to blog and share with you my experiences of SAWIP!

Where do I even begin to start telling you of the preceding 3 months that have flown by. From the moment I found out about SAWIP till being in DC (which we are currently in our third week) - I have learnt so much about myself and the world that we live in. I am a bit of a sceptic when it comes to leadership programmes - I guess the stigma that comes to my mind is that it's going to be boring and irrelevant. Let's get one thing straight: SAWIP is anything but boring and irrelevant. I have learnt so much on this programme and I am utterly privileged and humbled to be on this programme - the opportunities that we have received to meet great minds and to be able to interact with great South Africans has been an honour.

When I think of the SAWIP experience, the above quote by Mark Twain springs to mind. As a classical musician, I guess I can view myself as an unconventional one. I do not think I have had the ability to just be a classical musician - other passions in my life include photography and sprinkler running (a wonderful pasttime).

Applying for SAWIP and being a part of this experience has been a total step out of my comfort zone. From the moment I sat down to write the essays required for the application, going forth to selection camp and finally being here in DC - I have learnt so much about myself and the world that we live in. I have also met 14 phenomenal South Africans that I would not have met otherwise - of which all of this started with a tweet. Even though Petrus (alum of 2009) put up posters of SAWIP up in the music department (of which none of us noticed in the building - we are that ignorant sometimes) - the power of social media was definitely at work. Some call it luck, I call it God's plan, and I am at awe at what I have learnt!

Being a student of the arts, the SAWIP experience has been a learning one. From selection camp, meeting individuals that are highly intellectual and absolutely innate with speech and politics, I was rather intimidated from the beginning. Even after being selected, the feeling of fear of sounding stupid still remained with me. Many a time, I sat quietly in meetings trying to absorb as much as I can - and barely saying anything. It is only now in DC that I am starting to be able to think critically  and engage in topics that are very far away from my fields of interest. But perseverance does pay off, and hopefully I am able to apply these skills elsewhere.

There is much that can be said about my SAWIP adventure so far - and I invite you to read my personal blog lifeasirene.wordpress.com to read more on my pre-DC experiences of SAWIP.