FORMER Sowetan columnist and budding academic Nomfundo Msomi is jetting out to the United Kingdom tonight to pursue a two-year degree in development studies at Oxford University.

FORMER Sowetan columnist and budding academic Nomfundo Msomi is jetting out to the United Kingdom tonight to pursue a two-year degree in development studies at Oxford University.

Msomi, 25, of Northcliff, Johannesburg, won the Queen Elizabeth House Scholarship and a scholarship from the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust, which will pay her travelling expenses amounting to R15000.

Sowetan readers will remember Msomi for her column Diaspora Diaries, in which she wrote about her experiences as a foreign student and worker at the Sarah Lawrence College in New York from 2003 to 2007.

Msomi wrote the column between 2004 and 2005.

After completing her degree in the liberal arts in the United States, Msomi worked for The Food Trust, a non-governmental organisation in Philadelphia.

Among her duties at The Food Trust was teaching about the importance of fresh food and running campaigns for small farmers.

"Our campaigns and lessons resulted in a significant decline in child obesity in Philadelphia ," Msomi says.

But the Durban-born lass is not new to international schooling. She finished her high school education at the American International School of Johannesburg.

This school was formed by international companies for children whose parents work in other countries.

Msomi joined the school from the Hawaii International School in Zimbabwe, where her parents had been working for two years.

Msomi says her dream is to take the struggle for the empowerment of young South African women to a higher level.

"We are not realistic and honest in dealing with the issues and other challenges that our young people, particularly women, face.

"Young women should project themselves positively. They should look beyond their circumstances and work hard to achieve their dreams," Msomi says.