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Razia Adriaanse, Kovsie Master’s of Law (LLM) student with specialisation in Business Entities, was announced as one of the 2018 top-ten Grad Star students in the country.
 
According to Razia, “Being a leader is not about throwing your weight around and letting everyone know that you are above them; it means that you have something that the other person doesn’t have and passing your knowledge on to help build other people.”  Razia explained that she has drawn everything she knows from her mother, who has helped shape her into the strong, independent woman she is today.

The one hundred South African students selected to form part of the 2018 Grad Star programme demonstrated the most potential as future leaders in their respective fields.

Entrants for the programme were evaluated on academic merit, and various soft skills including motivation, discipline, altruism, and attitude. The judgement criteria delivered top candidates for future employers.
 
Razia’s successes materialised because of her love and interest in the various extra-mural and cultural activities offered by the university to undergraduate students on arrival. Razia was elected Prime of House NJ van der Merwe for 2014/2015, Residence Assistant (RA) at House Harmony, as well as RA Media and Marketing (2016), and RA Leadership, Training and Elections (2017) consecutively. Thereafter, she worked as UFS101 teaching assistant after deciding to pursue her master’s in 2018.

Razia explained that one of her calls to victory was portraying an accurate, unfiltered resemblance of who she was as a person. She explained that her biggest lesson throughout the competition was to never underestimate yourself, always do your best, and the results will follow.

She further urged students to take full advantage of opportunities such as the Grad Star programme, as they will get to network and optimise on their connection with top employers in their respective career fields.