For Nokulunga Ludidi, each day begins with a simple decision.

“If I wake up,” she says, “I must do something.”

It is a mindset shaped by years of living with chronic illness. Diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) in 2014, and more recently with multiple sclerosis (MS), she has had to learn how to navigate a life of uncertainty, physical limitations, and constant change. On 17 April 2026, that mindset will carry her across the graduation stage at the University of the Free State, where she will receive her MSc in Integrated Water Management from the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

Getting there has taken more than academic effort. It has taken endurance.

Learning to keep going

In 2014, after weeks of hospitalisation and uncertainty, Nokulunga was diagnosed with leukaemia. “When the doctor said I had leukaemia, I cried. It was bad,” she recalls.

Around that time, she watched a film about a young boy with leukaemia – one that left her convinced that her own life might be just as short. She returned home, closed the curtains, and withdrew from the world around her.

“I just sat there waiting for my death,” she says. “And it never happened.”

On the fourth day, something shifted.

“I told myself, ‘I’m still here. It means I’m not to die.’”

It was not a dramatic turning point, but a quiet decision – to keep going.

Living with cancer meant learning to carry fear. “The challenge was mostly mindset,” she says. “I didn’t know how to navigate life, knowing that I could die even tomorrow.”

So, she simplified things.

“If I wake up, I must do something.”

That approach carried her through treatment, financial strain, and the daily work of trying to live a normal life under abnormal circumstances. “Studying consumes you … and then you have problems at home … and you still need to concentrate,” she explains.

Her strength did not come from doing everything perfectly, but from continuing – day after day – even when things did not make sense.

Finding direction, one step at a time

Long before her master’s degree, Nokulunga had already begun building her academic foundation at Walter Sisulu University, where she completed a degree in Biological Sciences, studying subjects ranging from conservation biology to zoology and botany.

At the time, she was still searching.

“I didn’t know what I wanted,” she says.

After spending years away from formal study, it was a friend who recognised her strengths and encouraged her to take a new direction. That encouragement led her to the University of the Free State, where she enrolled for a Postgraduate Diploma in Integrated Water Management in 2021 while still undergoing treatment.

Returning to her studies after a decade was not easy. “After 10 years of not studying, I realised that a lot had changed,” she says. But it also brought clarity. “In life, you need to just study and know your niche.”

By 2023, she had registered for her MSc, this time with a clearer sense of purpose.

Her research focused on the effects of urbanisation on water resources in Nelson Mandela Bay over a 15-year period – an issue she encountered in her own community in Gqeberha.

“I saw a lot of boreholes in one area, and I thought, how is it possible?” she says. “I just wanted to know – what is the problem?”

Drawing on existing water management plans and engaging with sector experts, her study explored governance challenges and environmental pressures affecting water systems. It was not just academic – it was personal.

“I wanted to be the one to assist with what is happening all around me.”

In 2025, as she was working to complete her MSc, Nokulunga’s health took another turn for the worse.

She began to lose balance and struggled to walk. “If I’m going to the left, I go to the right,” she says.

By December, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

At that point, the weight of everything caught up with her. “I told my supervisor, ‘I can’t do this anymore.’ I had already given up.”

But she was not alone.

Her husband, Buhle Ngcibi, became her constant support – cooking, caring, and walking the journey with her. Her sister, Dr Viwe Ludidi, travelled to be by her side. Her mother, Nomabisinia Ludidi, remained a steady presence, and she continues to carry the memory of her late father, Vulindlela (PV) Ludidi, with her.

She also speaks with deep gratitude about her supervisor, Dr Nicolette Vermaak. “She was the pillar of everything … I couldn’t have done it without her.”

At the centre of it all was her faith.

“What kept me going … it’s God,” she says. “I am nothing without God. I talk to Him like He’s right next to me.” When things do not make sense, she does not try to force them. “What I can’t do, I leave to God.”

As she prepares to graduate, Nokulunga reflects on what her journey has taught her.

“Life has taught me that you can be sick and not be able to eat with a fork and knife, and it is not your doing,” she says. “So, don’t be hard on yourself. Life happens.”

On 17 April, Ludidi will take her place among the graduates of the University of the Free State.

Whether it is with a walker or a walking stick, she will be there – not because everything is resolved, but because she kept going.