Cape Town - Stellenbosch University’s Lecturer and researcher for the Research Alliance for Disaster and Risk Reduction (RADAR) Patricia Zweig graduates with a Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the age of 62.
Trish, as better known by the Maties community, started studying at the age of 36, while simultaneously working at various jobs, and she never dreamt that she would graduate with a Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) at the age of 62.
On Monday, obtained her PhD in Geography and Environmental Studies.
Born in Malawi and raised in London, Zweig moved to South Africa when she was 12 and went to school in Fish Hoek.
Zweig wanted to study after school but was not able to and she married, had raise two children, and worked as a waitress, catering and created children’s toys to make a living.
“The journey from being a waitress to an academic has been a long and rewarding one, and it’s an unimaginable achievement. I never saw myself going this far. I’d never have believed how far studying could take me.”
She says that it was only when she was 36, and her children were aged 11 and five, that she decided to study Environmental Studies through the University of South Africa (UNISA).
“I thrived on my studies and graduated a few years later with a BA in Anthropology and Geography (cum laude),”
“In 2002, I had pleasure to get a bursary to cover half of my costs, and then I completed my honours in Geographical Information Systems for Spatial Analysis and Decision-Making through SU,” she said.
At that time, Zweig was also selling water flowers that she sourced from local farmers and sold wherever she could.
“I sold water flowers for nine years and it put my children through high school and it put me through my Honours and Master’s degrees,” she added.
She further added that at the end of 2002, she won the award for the best honours project in that year and thereafter she was awarded a scholarship to do her Master’s degree at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
“In 2006, as part of the first cohort of the Potters Fellowship, I was also awarded a master’s in Environmental Studies and Geography (cum laude),”
Zweig worked in UCT’s Geography Department for two years and then worked for the unit which evolved into RADAR, until 2010, when the unit moved from UCT to SU.
In 2015, realising she loved teaching, particularly about disaster risk, she became an academic at RADAR, which included lecturing and research and she also teaches Geography courses at SU.
She mentions that she has spent many years working in informal settlements and has a passion for community-based research and outreach activities in the field of urban risk and vulnerability, as well as Livelihood Studies.
As part of her work at RADAR, Zweig has been involved in extensive Ex-Post Disaster Studies in the Western Cape and runs short courses for practitioners on disaster risk topics.
Zweig, revealed that she is the first person in her and in her husband’s family to get a degree, and also a strong advocate for people to study in order to broaden their horizons, regardless of their circumstances.
“I like to inspire others especially working people with children who believe they can’t study and I try to motivate them to do what I did. I want them to get the chances I’ve had,”
“A number of my friends who were working moms when we met, decided to go back to study. They include a magistrate, a lawyer, and a psychologist.”
In describing her personality, Zweig, said she is a self-confessed “greenie” and “tree hugger”, lives in Glencairn, and loves hiking in the mountains and listening to live music.
She has no plans to study further being due to retire in 2025. “It’s been a great adventure and I’m so glad I decided to move into my own realm.”
IOL