A how-to video series on YouTube that was recently launched by the Stellenbosch University (SU) Alumni Relations Office will give students information that “you don’t get from a degree”.
This was according to Chuma Gqola, an intern at the Alumni Office who is involved in the coordination of the series. The first video in the Young Alumni How To series was launched on 6 August as part of the Young Alumni programme. This initiative focuses specifically on alumni under 35 years old, according to Gqola.
“The How To series will share adulting 101. So, how do you actually do your taxes? You might have your first job, and you’ve never been taught how to do your taxes in an academic setting, but you know that it’s something that you need to do,” said Gqola.
The Young Alumni How To series wants to showcase “all the small things that are really important to you being an adult that you don’t get from a degree”, said Chuma Gqola, an intern at the Stellenbosch University Alumni Relations Office who is involved with the Young Alumni Programme. “Some of us don’t have access to the small information that you get either from your peers or your family.” PHOTO: Carla Visagie
Alumni take on taxes
The first episode of the YouTube How To series was ‘How to do your taxes’, presented by Bobby Wessels, an SU alumnus who studied BAccLLB at SU from 2014 to 2019. Some of the information Wessels focused on included: when to pay tax and how it is calculated, when to start paying tax, and the difference between income and capital.
Wessels told MatieMedia that he based the information in the video on questions that he is usually asked by his friends. “My targeted audience mostly asks me, ‘How do I get my tax reference number?’”
Some of the tips that Bobby Wessels, an SU alumnus who studied BAccLLB at Stellenbosch University from 2014 to 2019, shared in the first episode of the Young Alumni How To series. INFOGRAPHIC: Carla Visagie
The idea for the series came from a survey that the Alumni Office did in 2019, that provided insight into what young alumni wanted, according to Ferdi van Dyk, alumni relations coordinator for the SU Alumni Office.
The aim of the Young Alumni How To series is “to provide a platform where alumni can share their knowledge and expertise with fellow alumni”, said Van Dyk.
The first video in the How-To series provided “important knowledge”, according to Michelle Elliot, a postgraduate certificate of education student at Stellenbosch who watched the video.
“I found the video really insightful, especially since I studied BA (Humanities) and didn’t work with numbers a lot. It was knowledge I needed to know, especially since I will be starting my career and start to pay taxes next year,” said Elliot.
The next episode of the Young Alumni How To series will be posted on 9 September, with the topic of CV writing.
Keeping alumni connected
The Alumni Office also created the Maties Connect app in 2020, which allows alumni to connect with each other directly, according to Gqola.
“Through this platform, you can also get access to those alumni without the alumni office mediating those relations. Alumni can also share alumni-owned businesses on the platform,” said Gqola.
The Young Alumni Programme was launched on Friday 13 August, and aims to create career development and networking opportunities for alumni, according to the Maties Alumni website. PHOTO: Carla Visagie