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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

UFS acquires Willem Boshoff’s digital archive
2016-07-22

“I do not want to be the only person or artist that is part of this archive, but I want it to expand and involve others too.”

These were the words of Prof Willem Boshoff, the renowned artist and, Associate Professor in the Department of Fine Arts, during the presentation of the Willem Boshoff Archive to the University of the Free State (UFS) Johannes Stegmann Art Gallery during the Vrystaat Arts Festival.

The digital archive may be consulted at the Department of Art History and Image Studies. Large parts of it will also be available on the UFS website at http://scholar.ufs.ac.za.

Conversations surrounding the digital archive

In a discussion led by Dr Francis Halsall from the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland, the discussion led to the discovery of various themes, including The idea of research, education and dialogue, doing or making, the organisation of knowledge, language and translation, word and figures or people, and the enthusiastic amateur.

Artwork attracts international attention

Alongside Prof Boshoff and Dr Halsall, many other participants who have been inspired by the artist’s work sat in on the discussion about the archive.

They included Ivan Vladislavic, author of Willem Boshoff (2004), Dr Katja Gentric, whose doctoral dissertation at the University of Bourgogne (2013) is on Boshoff’s work, and Helene Smuts, arts education writer and publisher. Josef van Wyk, a Master’s student working on Prof Boshoff’s archive, and Prof Johann Rossouw, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy also formed part of the discussion.

Vladislavic mentioned that Prof Boshoff’s work opens up a different form of conceptualisation. “When I first encountered Willem’s work, I was excited by it from an art historic perspective,” he said.

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