My name is Johanna, I am 20 years old and in my fourth year Geology student at the University of Namibia. My home town is Ondangwa and I am currently staying in Windhoek as I am furthering my studies here.

Geology is a wide field of study which is the study of the Earth, the materials of which it is made, the structure of those materials, and the processes acting upon them. It includes the study of organisms that have inhabited our planet. An important part of geology is the study of how Earth’s materials, structures, processes and organisms have changed over time. At UNAM, Geology is offered as a full time course and one have to conduct a research project on a certain geological area and write a thesis before graduation.

I start my day as a student every day at 5 a.m. to prepare myself for school due to the fact that I am a day student (not in hostel) and I am staying far from the campus. This is why I have to wake up earlier to make sure I get to school on time. I was never admitted in the hostel since my first year which is one of the challenges I am facing in my studies but I am still trying to finish my degree within the prescribed four years and hoping to get hostel in this academic year. I always start my classes at 07h30 and they normally end at 17h30, in addition to that, I have to do practicals almost every day and I have ten modules in total this year of which five are for first semester and five are for the second semester which starts in July. Furthermore, I go for field work which also forms part of the geology curriculum, one has to do field work just to be equipped to what is happening in the working industry.

Geology itself is a fascinating course of study as one gets the chance to travel and visit a lot of geological sites which is one of my hobbies. People travel just to see the most fascinating wonders of the world because nature is so amazing. While travelling one gets to meet new people which is quite a good thing as we always learn something new from new people rather than just sticking to old people and  learn nothing new.

Geology can accommodate a wide range of people even though the market is quite tight at the moment. Geology graduates can become exploration geologist which is like a starting key in the industry to all new graduates from university. They study a certain area and produce a map for that particular area which can be used to guide the development of communities and determine where certain measures need to be taken. Engineering geologists study the area before any construction is made just to avoid building important structures where they might be damaged. Additionally to that, geologists study earth materials such as oil, which are used every day and they also conduct studies that locate rocks that contain important metals, plan the mines that produce them and the methods used to remove the metals from the rocks. There are a lot of fields in geology which will depend on what you specialize in as the course is too broad.

I am looking forward in obtaining a degree as a Namibian geologist.

If you have any questions about Geology as a field of study feel free to send it to info@welwitschia.org and they will send it to me in order to answer it.