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ARENDSE’S PASSION FOR THE FIELD OF STRUCTURES AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT MOTIVATES HIM TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD

ARENDSE’S PASSION FOR THE FIELD OF STRUCTURES AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT MOTIVATES HIM TO KEEP MOVING FORWARD

“I am both proud and humbled at the same time because my parents were both intelligent people who were not given the opportunity to pursue their tertiary education. This achievement honours the sacrifices they made for me,” said an ecstatic Pierre Arendse. He will be graduating at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Virtual Summer Graduation for his Bachelor of Technology Degree Civil Engineering: Specialising in Structural Engineering, on 01 December 2021.

Arendse, who hails from Glenmore, said initially he was discouraged from taking the Structural Engineering route because the Civil Department felt that being unemployed would be too great a challenge. Being a believer he turned to God for direction.

“He told me not to give up on my dreams and that if I was willing to work hard and put in the hours I would succeed. So as I began, I knew I was going to do well. Achieving a Cum Laude grade is a bonus which I believe is God’s way of showing me that if we believe in ourselves the way he does then there are no limits to what we can achieve,” he replied.

For him, Structural Engineering had always been his first choice and from an early age he had been shadowing his late father, (who was a skilled artisan in the building trade), on many building sites the choice of structural engineering was a natural one.

“It was here that I found my fascination for understanding how structures were built. What keeps them standing? How are they constructed? What keeps them from falling over? These are the questions that occupied my curious young mind. Structural engineering was always going to be my natural choice. Solving complex problems and asking ‘why does it work’ or ‘how does it work’ always interests me, both professionally and in my personal life,” he said.

However, the journey to success comes with challenges and for Arendse the greatest challenge was obtaining funding for his studies.

“Not being from a wealthy family and being unemployed for so long I was not able to self-fund my degree. Without the amazing help I received from family and a crowdfunding organisation named Feenix, I would not have been able to start let alone finish my studies at all,” he stressed.

Conveying his thoughts on a virtual graduation ceremony, Arendse expressed that a ‘live’ graduation with family and fellow study mates would have been awesome, but South Africa is battling COVID-19 as a nation right now.

“Beating the virus is our number one priority and that takes precedence. There will be an

opportunity to celebrate with family and friends in a more intimate way,” he said.

Besides challenges, there were some fun moments for Arendse, that being meeting and studying with the awesome classmates he had. His study group was a very dedicated group of people from different sectors of the field.

“They are now people I call friends and would relish the opportunity to work with them again someday. Possibly, we could open our own design consultancy if the opportunity presents itself in the future,” he added.

He relayed that having motivation to achieve one’s goals is crucial as he believes that talented, dedicated, honest and hard-working engineers will turn the country into what it can be.

“I wanted to be a part of that group. A genuine passion for the field of structures and the built environment also motivates me to keep moving forward. I also knew that God was with me every step of the way and that, for me, was the greatest motivation,” he revealed.

Besides concentrating on his studies, Arendse enjoys watching sport in his free time. “Going to church is a highlight and he also loves reading the Bible. Cooking is something he thoroughly enjoys and he has been told he makes a killer mutton curry,” he chuckled.

His advice to future students in the field of Civil Engineering, is to be sure that one is passionate about what one wants to do and that passion for what one does will ensure success.

“Everything else you will achieve is secondary to having a genuine interest in and fondness for the field you are pursuing. Also, believe in yourself and in the words of Hank Aaron, always remember, there is no shortcut in life, you have to take it one step at a time and work hard,” he said.

Looking into the future, Arendse’s immediate goal is to secure employment with a Civil Engineering Design Consultancy or a similar company. He would also like to pursue a Master’s degree qualification after gaining a bit more industry knowledge and experience.

“Working as part of a South African team designing awesome, complex structures in South Africa and beyond our borders is the end goal,” he said.

Pictured: Pierre Arendse

Waheeda Peters

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