By Siphumezo Adam
When I joined the d-lab programme in 2022 as part of the pilot cohort, I was fresh out of school and full of assumptions about what the working world looked like. Like many young people, my idea of adulthood focused on the visible rewards, earning an income, independence, and success. What I didn’t yet understand was the growth, effort, and discomfort required to truly thrive in professional spaces.
School had given me knowledge, but it hadn’t given me exposure. And without exposure, confidence and agency are hard to build.
Access Is the First Step — Not the Destination
Being part of d-lab expanded my world in ways I hadn’t imagined. For the first time, I had access to mentors, coaches, facilitators, and tools that went far beyond traditional education. I was introduced to design thinking, digital tools, and ways of working that had never been part of my schooling experience.
Just as importantly, I had access to people: mentors who believed in me, facilitators who created space for reflection, and coaches who challenged me to think differently. The one-on-one check-ins and group reflection sessions helped us do the inner work that often goes unaddressed in youth development.
But access alone didn’t build agency. The turning point came with exposure.
Where Exposure Builds Agency
The real “light-bulb moment” for me was when we were no longer just learning concepts, but applying them to real challenges. Through design thinking projects, research tasks, and high-stakes presentations, we were placed in situations that demanded initiative, confidence, and accountability.
Presenting at the offices of large corporates like Motus and Standard Bank was terrifying. I barely slept in the days leading up to those presentations. My anxiety forced me to work harder, prepare more thoroughly, and push past my own self-doubt. Those moments were uncomfortable, but they were transformational.
This is how agency is built: not by protecting young people from challenge, but by supporting them through it.
Social Capital: The Difference That Changes Everything
As part of the programme, I was placed at ABSA CIB for my internship, joining the New Digital team. Walking into that environment, I was overwhelmed by imposter syndrome. I didn’t feel like I belonged. At the time, I was a university dropout from KwaLanga, who was I to sit in spaces like that?
What made the difference was people.
My internship supervisor, Nonjabulo Lekhethoa, walked the journey with me step by step, teaching me how things worked, how to navigate professional relationships, and how to push myself further than I thought possible. Alongside her, people like Daniella Siko, Thabo Saohatse, and Zie Ngulube showed up, shared their own journeys, and made space for us to learn.
This is social capital in action. Not just access to opportunity, but access to relationships, networks, and unspoken knowledge that opens doors and keeps them open.
From Beneficiary to Believer — and Then to Builder
Today, I show up differently as an employee, as a mentor, and as someone working with young people entering the programme. I understand the power of standing on the shoulders of others, and I feel a responsibility to let others stand on mine.
The access and exposure I received didn’t just prepare me for a job; they shaped how I continue to grow professionally and personally. They taught me how to learn, adapt, and navigate spaces that once felt unreachable.
Rethinking Empowerment
I often think back to the version of myself who walked into d-lab in 2022; curious, unsure, and unaware of how much unlearning lay ahead. What changed my trajectory was not a single opportunity, but a series of moments where someone chose to make space for me, challenge me, and walk alongside me.
Today, as part of the d-lab team, I see how easy it is to assume that access automatically leads to confidence, or that exposure automatically leads to belonging. It doesn’t. Those things have to be held, reinforced, and modelled, again and again, especially once young people leave the safety of structured programmes.
Empowerment is not a handover. It is a continuous negotiation between opportunity and support, courage and fear, readiness and reality. And if we are honest, it demands as much growth from institutions and systems as it does from the young people we are trying to serve.