Looking back, Nicholas Schwenke CA(SA), senior lecturer at Wits, says it is easy to identify that the time spent in New Zealand’s Cardrona Alpine Resort was the second but most significant of three catalysts that pushed him to apply for a role at Wits and which ultimately led him to end up lecturing at the School of Accountancy at Wits
Nicholas went to New Zealand to obtain an instructor certification, hoping to secure a job as a snowboard instructor.
‘This was step one in my grand plan of the ultimate career move for a Johannesburg-based CA(SA). Little did I know that it would end up in a career move. Rather than swapping my desk for picturesque ski slopes, I would end up swapping it for the (virtual) lecture theatres of the Wits School of Accountancy,’ says Nicholas.
The first catalyst was his brilliant year as an academic trainee (AT) at the University of Cape Town after he finished his studies there. He still admires the lecturers and fellow ATs that he feels he was fortunate enough to work with. He chalks the last catalyst down to his cumulative work experience (including articles).
‘As a fully qualified CA(SA), I have worked in corporate finance roles, and I credit that environment for teaching me how to operate under pressure. That practical experience is also hands down the best learning environment that I had ever had. So, across all three of these experiences, I have realised that I am happiest in an interactive role that will challenge me intellectually and force me to continue learning,’ says Nicholas.
Having transitioned into working as an academic, Nicholas is focusing on getting to grips with a new set of responsibilities. This initially entailed figuring out how to deliver content in line with the Wits remote teaching and learning strategy.
‘I am now quite proficient at editing my lecture videos! With students returning to campus for this academic year, I have a new struggle of finding lecture venues. Safe to say that my knowledge of the Wits campus is going to improve significantly over this year! The energy on campus and the fact that I can interact with colleagues on campus has meant that the start of this year has been great, he says.
He is happy to have found himself in a very interactive environment and to be teaching financial management that he is keenly interested in, as well as conducting research into the valuation of listed holding companies on the JSE.
‘The research is certainly taking me out of my comfort zone, and I am having to learn how to conduct research using a robust methodology to complete my master’s. The research aspect has allowed me to pull on my previous work experience and I plan to keep my research going forward very focused on issues that are relevant in practice to corporate finance practitioners. This has meant that I have been able to find the intellectual challenge that I realise that I need in a role,’ says Nicholas.
‘While some of my friends might find it hard to believe, I find the day-to-day challenge of developing lecture material to be quite difficult, as it requires significantly more than just updating the slides that were used last year. I want my lectures to really lay out the principles of a topic and I want them to be engaging and interesting for the students. I see this as an area that I can continually look to improve on. On that front Wits has been impressive in terms of offering courses to staff to help them optimally design courses and create lecture plans and the School of Accountancy has continually emphasised the importance of attending courses like those,’ explains Nicholas.
‘My experience on the ski slopes in New Zealand taught me a lot about snowboarding but, more importantly, I learnt a lot about myself in the process of becoming an NZSIA Level 2 certified snowboard instructor. I enjoyed the actual snowboarding, but I found myself loving the challenge of how best to teach people a brand-new skill.’
It is with this mindset and a healthy amount of passion for what CAs can achieve that Nicholas hopes to leave a lasting impression on the students that he is lucky enough to interact with in his ultimate career move to academia.