There were tears of joy from Bekuyise Cele and his family members as he graduated Cum Laude for his Bachelor’s degree in Food Science and Technology at the Durban University of Technology Autumn Graduation ceremony at the Olive Convention Centre this afternoon (23 May 2023).
It felt like a dream for Cele (23) from the Eastern Cape to grace the graduation stage as at some point his financial difficulties nearly made him to drop out of DUT. He recalled how the first few months of his first year at university were tough as he depended on the R300 his mother used to send to him monthly.
Cele revealed that he only received the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding in June which made the first half of the year miserable from him.
“I nearly dropped out in my first year because I was experiencing financial difficulties. My mother is a domestic workerso she used to send me R300 per month. I ended up experiencing depression, I couldn’t even focus properly on my school work. NSFAS came just in time to save me from giving up. Adapting to the university life was tough, I didn’t even know how to use a computer. I come from a deep rural area and at some point I felt like I did not fit in as I could not afford to buy good looking clothes. I had a lot to learn during a short period of time,” he explained.
Another challenge he faced was not having a laptop during the COVID period where he had to study online. However, his vision to succeed in life pushed him to push through all the challenges. He realised that education was his only hope to a better life.
Being asked about graduating Cum Laude, Cele he said it was exciting to see people cheering for him and applauding his hard work. He plans to further his studies in the future as he feels it will open more doors for him.
Advising first year students, Cele said: “The only thing I can say is that a critical self-assessment is very important when you’re doing your first year. When first semester ends assess yourself, why you didn’t reach your goals, where have you gone wrong. By doing so you will know your problems in terms of studying. If you can see yourself doing something, you have already won more than half the battle. If you can see yourself as successful, others will see you that way too. Finally, always be sincere, humble, and empathetic, no matter how far you advance in your career.”
Pictured: Bekuyise Cele
Simangele Zuma
