Written by:
Jacques De Villiers
Every now and again a PSASA meeting reminds me why I’ve remained a member for more than twenty years. We all join because we think we’re joining a professional association. We stay because, somewhere along the line, it becomes something else.
Our Johannesburg Chapter meeting on 16 July was one of those evenings.
Tiffany Markman spent the evening taking us through the way she approaches writing for LinkedIn. I could tell you about frameworks and techniques, but that wouldn’t really capture what happened. The thing that stayed with me wasn’t her BAT model. It was watching someone who has spent years mastering her craft lift the curtain and invite the rest of us to look inside. The longer I’ve belonged to the PSASA, the more I’ve noticed this pattern. The people with the most to offer are usually the first to offer it.
Lorraine Jenks followed Tiffany with a five-minute reflection on what the PSASA has meant in her life. In true Lorraine fashion it was whimsical and charming. Lorraine is currently battling cancer and, at eighty years old, cheerfully shared that she is now dating an eighty-three-year-old gentleman. Only Lorraine could tell a story like that and leave a room smiling.
Nine days later, on Saturday evening, 25 July, the PSASA Annual Convention was in full swing in Umhlanga under the theme Through The Waves. One of the highlights of the convention is the awards dinner, and I’d asked Stef du Plessis to let me know whether Tiffany had been inducted into the Southern African Educators Hall of Fame. I’d had the privilege of nominating her, so I was hoping the answer would be yes.
At about nine o’clock my phone rang.
It was Stef.
He didn’t keep me in suspense for very long. A moment later he handed the phone to Tiffany.
We’ve been friends for more than twenty years. I can’t really remember what we said. I’m sure I congratulated her. Mostly I remember feeling proud. Proud that someone I’d watched work so hard, and so generously, was receiving recognition that felt completely deserved.
As soon as I put the phone down, my thoughts went straight back to our chapter meeting nine days earlier. It struck me that Tiffany had given us a glimpse into exactly why she deserved the honour. She had stood in front of a room full of fellow speakers and, without the slightest hint of keeping something back, shared the way she thinks about writing for LinkedIn. She’s a brilliant educator. She didn’t just pass on information, but she left me a little better off than she found me.
Perhaps that’s what friendship inside the PSASA has come to mean for me.
It’s certainly not about seeing one another every month. Most of us don’t. It’s about investing in one another’s journeys over many years. Sometimes that means sharing an idea. Sometimes it means editing a speech, making an introduction or simply being there when someone needs encouragement. Then, every now and again, one of those friends receives an honour, and somehow it feels as though all of us have a small share in the celebration.
Congratulations, Tiffany.
The award recognises an outstanding educator.
Those of us who’ve been fortunate enough to learn from you already knew that.
