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Friends beat the odds by achieving second degrees together

21 April 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Supplied

Their friendship began in high school, where they were constantly told by teachers that they would not make it to university, but these best friends never gave up. On Thursday 21 April 2022, they received their honours degrees in the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences together during the afternoon ceremony of the University of the Free State’s April Graduations.

Lerato Mbongo and Opheleleyo Qwabe, who have been friends since Grade 9, said being picked on in class for not being the brightest learners brought them together and motivated them to work harder.Mbongo obtained a Bachelor of Agriculture Honours majoring in Wildlife Management, and Qwabe received a Bachelor of Agriculture Honours majoring in Agricultural Economics.

“We’ve always dreamed big, but if you had told us back then that we would one day be two-time graduates, we wouldn’t have believed it. During one of our Maths lessons back in Grade 9, our teacher went around asking the ‘smarter’ kids what they wanted to study after matric, but when he got to us, he said there was no point in asking because we wouldn’t make it that far anyway,” Qwabe said.

The friends, who both started at the university’s South Campus, said they were grateful for the UFS Preparation Programme, as it boosted both their marks and their confidence. “The programme helped us to believe in ourselves again, and also played a big role in helping us discover what we wanted to study. The courses we enrolled in really unlocked an unstoppable passion in us and helped us realise that nothing is impossible. Today, here we are celebrating 10 years of friendship, and our honours degrees. We’ve conquered once again, and we're sharing our victories together,” Mbongo said.

News Archive

UFS Convocation to convene

2014-04-03

You are invited to attend this meeting convened at the request of the President of the Convocation, Prof Johan Grobbelaar.

The agenda is:

1. To discuss the recent events on the Bloemfontein Campus, as well as the way in which management handled them, and make decisions about these.
2. The election of a representative of the Convocation on the Council of the UFS. The term of the incumbent, Paul Colditz, expires in October 2014. Colditz is available for re-election.

According to the Statute of the UFS, published in the Government Gazette, 27 August 2010, No 33490, Volume 542, members of the Convocation are defined as:

• All Alumni, thus current and former students who obtained a formal qualification at the UFS.
• All permanent academic staff of the UFS, from appointment level of lecturer to professor, who are not necessarily an alumnus of the UFS.
• All permanent support service staff of the UFS, from appointment level of Deputy Director to Rector and Vice-Chancellor, who are not necessarily an alumnus of the UFS.

Date: Tuesday 15 April 2014
Time: 18:00
Place: Albert Wessels Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

For further information, contact alumni@ufs.ac.za / +27(0)51 4019343.

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