Perseverance helped Kulani Baloyi to obtain Deans Merit Award for his National Diploma in Pulp and Paper from the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. He graduated this afternoon during the second session of the first day of the 2019 Autumn graduation, at the Fred Crookes Sports Centre, Steve Biko Campus.

Baloyi, also known as KK to most of his friends, is from Giyani in Limpopo. He arrived in Durban in 2016 for the purpose of studying and making his academic dream come true.

He emphasised that he was very excited to graduate with Deans Merit Award, just like everyone would when achieving something great. “I would like to thank my Lord and my God Jesus Christ for gifting me with the knowledge and wisdom of making it possible for me to achieve what I have achieved,” he said delightfully.

He added that when he was doing his second year of study, it was the toughest one for him as his personal life was starting to have an impact on his academics. “I almost gave up the interest of graduating with Deans Merit Award and started having the mentality that achieving 50% is also a pass. However, I managed to go through it, thanks to my practical group members. Their positivity and seriousness about studying was annoying at that time but it certainly helped me a lot,” he added.

His mother was also very happy about his achievement. “She knew I was graduating but she didn’t know with Deans Merit Award and what it means until my aunt and my siblings explained it to her. She was happy and I made her proud of being a mother to me,” he said excitedly.

His advice to fellow students who are studying is to be productive when studying. He also believes that just because someone is failing doesn’t necessary mean that they are not smart. “I think the fact that one is accepted to study at University, they are capable of achieving what I have achieved, if not, you would not even have made it to University level,” he said.

Pictured: Baloyi Knowledge Kulani.

Sanele Xaba