It is both a pleasure and a privilege to welcome our international students to the University of the Free State. Your mere presence at the university this year is an accomplishment in itself, as you bravely traversed the year that was – 2020.
We are in the midst of a global pandemic that has brought the world economy to its knees, changed the way we live and work and delivered on the mandate to disrupt through 4IR. We also lost friends and family along the way, but your presence bears testimony to the resilient nature of humankind. It teaches us one simple lesson that I would like you to digest and draw strength from throughout this coming year, namely, to be ‘certain about uncertainty, comfortable with discomfort’ – the motto by which our Department of Student Affairs lives and breathes.
We are confident that you will contribute to the diversity that the UFS represents. We trust and anticipate that you will acquire knowledge and invaluable experiences in your various fields of study and breathe life into our need to make our world a better and kinder place for all of us.
We look forward to the experience and culture that you will bring to the UFS. We ask that you share your lived experiences and culture with the university and wider community, and in so doing, become a contributor to knowledge. The UFS is a site where unfamiliar ideas, experiences, and cultures are actively encouraged as you access our critical and quality public education to build a kinder world for us.
As students, you are the harbingers of change; so, be that change that you wish to see in the world in the coming year – both in your academic and social lives.
“Quality of life lies in knowledge, in culture. Values are what constitute true quality
of life, the supreme quality of life, even above food, shelter, and clothing.”
—Fidel Castro