When South Africans think of scientists, many imagine white coats, laboratories and people far removed from everyday life. Her work lives in laboratories and lecture rooms but equally in social media videos, school halls and conversations with young women who need someone to tell them: you belong here too. People need to know that you do not have to be the smartest person in the room to become a scientist. The curiosity eventually led her to the University of KwaZulu-Natal and later into virology, with a particular focus on HIV research. For many South Africans, HIV is not an abstract scientific subject but a personal reality.