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17 July 2023 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo Supplied
Buhle Hlatshwayo
Buhle Hlatshwayo has been selected for the 2023 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Programme.

Buhle Hlatshwayo, a master’s student on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, has been selected for the 2023 Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) programme. Despite initially doubting herself, she took a leap of faith and applied for the programme, which turned out to be a successful decision. The Fulbright Programme is a prestigious scholarship programme that provides opportunities for international educational exchanges. The programme’s overarching aim is to enhance intercultural relations across more than 160 countries.

Hlatshwayo will be teaching isiZulu at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, for an academic year. She leaves South Africa at the end of July.

Hlatshwayo is currently pursuing her Master of Arts with specialisation in English on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus, where she also completed her undergraduate and honours degrees in the same field. Her research focuses on East African Arab migration narratives to the Global North, with a focus on exploring the legacies of colonialism. She is also a learning facilitator in the same department.

A prestigious opportunity 

A friend and colleague, Mxolisi Mabaso, encouraged her to apply, knowing her desire to explore opportunities abroad. 

“I am still in awe of how this opportunity came about, especially because someone else saw potential in me while I didn’t believe in myself. My good friend pushed me to apply, because he knew I always wanted the opportunity to go abroad. I am thrilled and honoured to be part of this prestigious programme. I am looking forward to experiencing the US culture and ways of being.”

On her love for English, Hlatshwayo said she has always been fond of the subject but never considered it as a potential career path. After completing her undergraduate degree, Dr Kudzayi Ngara, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English on the Qwaqwa Campus, encouraged her to pursue an honour’s degree in English, which ultimately shaped her academic journey.

Professional and personal growth awaits

While in the US, Hlatshwayo said she is looking forward to immersing herself in American culture and pursuing courses in American studies. She aims to learn more about diverse cultural backgrounds and share her South African heritage and cultural values with the international community. She said this exchange of experiences and ideas will broaden her horizons and contribute to her academic and professional development.

“The opportunities would not present themselves if you were not capable. If you know your goals, seize any opportunity that will enable you to get there. I was not granted this opportunity because I’m smarter than everyone else, but because of how I articulated my genuine motivations with future goals and how the Fulbright programme will help me achieve them,” she said.

News Archive

Students take part in prestigious programme at Stanford University
2013-08-05

 

Ready for Stanford. From the left are: Patricia Mapipi, SinazoMabunu, Claudio Carlos, Elzahn van der Westhuizen, Stefan van der Westhuizen and Zakariyya Patel.
Photo: Jerry Mokoroane
05 August 2013

At the end of August 2013 six Kovsies will depart for Stanford Sophomore College in San Francisco, USA, to take part in a prestigious residential programme. The programme stems from a key partnership between the UFS and Stanford University.

This programme involves the most talented second-year undergraduate students from both the UFS and Oxford universities joining the Stanford Sophomore College.These students spend over two weeks during the USA summer recess engaged in a programme which concentrates on the academic studying of innovative and multidisciplinary topics.

The Kovsies students selected for the 2013 programme are: Patricia Mapipi and Sinazo Mabunu from the Faculty of the Humanities; Claudio Carlos and Elzahn van der Westhuizen from the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences; and Stefan van der Westhuizen and Zakariyya Patel from the Faculty of Health Sciences.

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