Epic Antarctic adventure awaits

• Published date: 06 December 2023
• Author: Carmen Jacobs Carmen.Jacobs@acm.co.za
• Publication title: Bolander

The Grade 11 pupil from Parel Vallei High School entered the 2023 Matrics in Antarctica (MIA) Competition, and is now one of the top five winners

He entered the competition after hearing about it from a friend.

“It was this amazing opportunity and to even think about it was compelling, that this would even be possible,” he says.

In answer to what about the competition he found difficult, he says the video portion of the competition.

The criteria was to submit a two-minute video, and editing and trimming his video (into which he poured his heart) was quite challenging, and cutting out so many parts was a painful exercise, he says.

James excelled, and he is now one of five young South Africans fortunate enough to join renowned explorer, Riaan Manser on this annual educational expedition.

“Waiting on the announcement was a nerve-wracking experience but as soon as I heard my name, I was ecstatic, it feels incredibly surreal,” he says.

James has, since a young age, been passionate about environmental issues, with global warming and reducing the use of fossil fuels topping the list of his concerns.

“I’ve always been passionate about nature and I can remember the droughts which happened in 2016, and the incredibly devastating effects it had on our family’s farm, and the issue of droughts stems directly from climate change.

“That was a major eye-opener for me,” he adds.

Since then, James is passionately committed to raising awareness about climate change and global warming.

This ties in with his motivation to go on this trip.

“I will be going to the place in the world that is most affected by global warming and it’s important to go there and really see what is happening.”

His view is that society often still perceives global warming and its effects to be some far off issue, not affecting or directly...