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07 November 2019 | Story Thabo Kessah | Photo Johan Roux
Qwaqwa Campus top academic achiever, Selloane Mile, with Campus Principal, Dr Martin Mandew.
Qwaqwa Campus top academic achiever, Selloane Mile, with Campus Principal, Dr Martin Mandew.
Bosso ke mang? So goes a popular township saying derived from the late Hip Hop Pantsula’s (HHP) hit track, Bosso. Literally, it means ‘who is the boss?’

Selloane Mile, the 2018/2019 SRC Secretary General for the Qwaqwa Campus, was a tutor in the Faculties of Education and the Humanities from 2017 to 2019, and is also an aspiring poet and author. She is now the Qwaqwa Campus Dux Student for 2019, with an average of 84, 3%.

“I am very honoured and humbled to have been bestowed the award as the best academic student on the Qwaqwa Campus at the recent Student Excellence Awards ceremony. The experience certainly feels unreal and I am yet to come to terms with the magnitude of this accolade,” said Selloane, a final-year Bachelor of Education (Senior Phase and FET) student. 

The secret is, there is no secret

When asked what her secret was, she said: “I do not think there is any secret or technique that I can attribute my academic achievements to. However, I think setting a standard for yourself and being consistent in whatever we do to realise those standards we have set for ourselves, is the key to success. Also important is flexibility. One has to give yourself the chance to explore and tap into different horizons.” 

Cognitive growth

“You cannot grow cognitively if you do not challenge yourself. For instance, reading a book outside the scope of your discipline can prove beneficial, because you get to be more knowledgeable. The advice I would give is that you must constantly remind yourself why you are here and let that be the driving force, even when things are gloomy, to let that motivate you. If you want to achieve certain things, you have to compromise and deprive yourself of other things; so, priorities should be the order of the day,” said the future Biology and English educator.

Looking back

Selloane is a proud product of Qwabi, Molibeli, and Reabetswe primary schools in Qwaqwa.

“I was born and bred here at Mandela Park in Qwaqwa. I did my Grades 10-12 at Moteka Secondary School, and that is why I would like to go back and teach at a public school – to bring about change in my community.”

Other awards Selloane received, were the Faculty of Education Overall Best Performer, and the Top Academic Achiever in the 2018/2019 SRC. Clearly, bosso ke Selloane!

Some of the recipients on the day were:
Dineo Tsotetsi (81,5%) – Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Overall Best Achiever
Katleho Motloung (78, 3%) – Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences Overall Best Achiever
Tina Magaqa (74%) – Faculty of the Humanities Overall Best Achiever
Pakiso Mthembu – Sportsman of the Year
Sandakahle Msamariya Khumalo – Sportswoman of the Year
Thabo Mdletshe – UFS101 Teaching Assistant of the Year
Charlotte Maxeke Residence – The Cleanest Residence on Campus
Siphamandla Shabangu – Selfless Volunteer and Gateway Mentor
UFS Qwaqwa Campus Chorale – Outstanding Performing Arts and Cultural Society 

News Archive

International ties for OSM
2013-08-21

 

Prof Nicol Viljoen in the historic Teatr Zdrojowy in Walbrzych, Poland
20 August 2013


Profs Nicol and Martina Viljoen from the Odeion School of Music (OSM) recently undertook a very successful trip to Europe where Prof Nicol Viljoen rendered two solo piano recitals in Poland. They also delivered a joint paper at a congress in Budapest.

The first of the two recitals were held in Crakow at the famed Zespol Panstwowych School of Music. At this event, Prof Viljoen essentially recited Chopin Mazurkas and was invited to repeat this performance in Poland in the future.

The second piano recital was in the historicTeatr Zdrojowy im. Henryka Wieniawskiego in Walbrzych. This concert included Preludes, Mazurkas, as well as the Ballad in G minor by Chopin. After the Mazurkas, the audience rewarded Prof Viljoen with a standing ovasion – and again at the end of the concert. As a result of this, the chief organiser of the event, Jerzy Kosek, who is also the conductor of the Filharmonia Sudecka, invited Prof Viljoen to perform as soloist with his orchestra next year.

Kosek also invited Conducting students at the OSM to work with the Filharmonia under his leadership on an exchange basis. He indicated that he would like to strengthen the ties with the University of the Free State and the Odeion School of Music. Two members of the Filharmonia Sudecka are currently doctoral students in Performing Arts at the OSM, namely Karol Legierski (concertmaster) and Marianne Cilliers (first violin), while the co-concertmaster, Dorota Graca, is in the process of registering for doctoral studies at the OSM.

The paper delivered by Profs Viljoen in Budapest, formed part of the interdisciplinary congress, ‘The Arts in Society,’ where more than twenty countries were represented. Their paper dealt with the post-apartheid oeuvre of the South African composer, Hans Huyssen. Charla Schutte, another doctoral student at the OSM, delivered a paper on an interpretation of indoctrination songs on the basis of an analytical model by the philosopher Johann Visagie.

During the trip, Prof Martina Viljoen also had a productive meeting with the executive manager of Common Ground Publishers, an academic publisher based in the USA, with a view to publish work from the OSM.

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