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12 December 2019 | Story Xolisa Mnukwa | Photo Xolisa Mnukwa
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(From the left) Mia, Dahné, Chrisna, and Doré, who have been friends since Grade 8, pushed through the academic struggle and realised their dream of becoming doctors together in record time. #UFSGraduation2019
They have been friends since Grade eight, starting high school together at Hoër Meisieskool Oranje in Bloemfontein. More than a decade later, friends Dahné Beukes, Chrisna Goosen, Mia Vosloo, and Doré de Necker are still doing things together – this time adding the title of doctor to their names on the same day. The four friends graduated together at the 2019 December graduation ceremonies of the University of the Free State, obtaining their MB ChB qualifications. 

A combination of emotions ranging from stress and frustration, to ultimate excitement and gratitude, with a lot of support from her family and close friends, is how Beukes described the six years it took to complete her degree. She described her future as a pool filled with opportunities that she hopes will eventually lead her to working abroad.  
“The key to success is maintaining balance in life, and this can be achieved through your friendships,” Beukes explained the friendship she maintained with her fellow Hoër Meisieskool Oranje friends. 
 
Beukes’ sentiments are echoed by Vosloo, who says she is grateful for being able to surround herself with people who share her values and beliefs and helped build her into the version of herself that she is today.

Vosloo will complete her medical internship at the Port Elizabeth Livingstone Hospital in 2020, and says she aspires to specialise in psychiatry and ultimately settle down and start a family. 

“I believe it's good to be flexible and not have your mind set on something too specific, because things rarely go according to plan; so, I’m trying to enjoy the ride. As long as I can have a dog wherever life takes me, I'll probably be happy,” she reflected.  

Newlywed Goosen, now Chrisna Krügel, looks forward to completing her medical internship alongside her husband, Tinus Krügel, who also obtained his degree during the December graduation ceremonies.

She explained that studying medicine was challenging, and that she sometimes experienced difficulty maintaining a lot of her friendships, resulting in her keeping only her closest friends. 

Goosen implores the incoming batch of medical students to remain humble and to make full use of the opportunities the university offers them in order to make a success of their studies. 

De Necker also offers advice for incoming first-year medical students. 

“Study hard, always have the bigger picture in mind when things get rough, and make friends in your classes early on, as they will be walking the academic road with you for a couple of years.”

“It's been amazing to see my fellow high school classmates growing through these years, all three of them have shown great character,” she explained. 

News Archive

UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages
2006-05-22

During the colloquium presented in Belgium by the Province Antwerp were from the left Prof Pol Cuvelier (University of Antwerp), Prof Theo du Plessis (Director: Unit for Language Management at the UFS), Mr Ludo Helsen (Permanent Deputy: Province of Antwerp) and Mr Jean-Pierre Rondas (Flemish radio journalist).

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UFS academic discusses Dutch, Afrikaans and African languages at international conference

Prof Theo du Plessis, Director of the Unit for Language Management at the University of the Free State (UFS), was the main speaker at a colloquium titled “Routes:  Where to now? - Een traject van het Nederlands naar het Afrikaans en de Afrikatalen”, which was recently presented by the Province Antwerp in Belgium.

 The aim of the colloquium was to discuss the future cooperation in the field of language between the Province Antwerp and South Africa. 

 The Province Antwerp is already involved with projects in South Africa.  One of these projects is the Multilingual Information Development Programme (MIDP), a partnership project between the UFS and the Free State Province that is mainly funded by the Province Antwerp. 

 The project has been running since 1999 and was recently in the news with the presentation of a symposium on multilingualism and exclusion on the Main Campus of the UFS.  It is hoped that the Routes colloquium will indicate new stages on which can be added to the already successful cooperation in the area of language.

 Prof Du Plessis’s presentation titled “Nederlands, Afrikaans en die Afrikatale – kan samewerking slaag? Die geval MIDP in die Vrystaat”, investigated the successes that have been made with the MIDP.  He discussed two possible approaches to cooperation in the areas of language, that of a sentimentalistic  approach against an instrumentalistic approach. 

Cooperation in the first approach makes language the aim.  In the second approach language is used as a means to a greater aim.  According to Prof du Plessis the first approach is driven by a romantisised idea about the relation between the Flemish and Afrikaans speaking people, which may unfortunately polarise the position of Afrikaans in South Africa even further.

 He argues that, given the time that we are in, the second approach will deliver more constructive results as language can among others be used for to further  democracy in South Africa.   This can happen by cooperation in the institutionalising of multilingualism in our society.  The more languages are used in education, law and government administration, the more we can be assured a successful democracy.

 The Routes colloquium was facilitated by the well-known Flemish radio journalist, Jean-Pierre Rondas. About twenty South African and Flemish language specialists took part in the colloquium.  Dr Fritz Kok, outgoing chief executive officer of the ATKV took part in the opening ceremony and Dr Neville Alexander from the University of Cape Town and well-known activist for multilingualism in South Africa was also one of the main speakers.

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