“I feel nervous to be a part of the first virtual graduation ceremony but I’m honoured to be part of a generation that was the first to graduate in a such a way contrary to the traditional graduation ceremony. Our stories will be different to others in previous years,” said Younisha Naidoo.
She has obtained the Dean’s Merit awards in her National Diploma in Accounting, and will be graduating at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Virtual Graduation ceremony on 10 June 2020.

The first to hear of her academic achievement was her proud grandparents, who have raised her and sacrificed a lot for her education.
However, for her personally, it took Naidoo a while to process the good news that she had been awarded the Dean’s Merit award. She worked consistently towards getting Cum Laude since first year, but she did not anticipate getting the prestigious Dean’s Merit award. “It was truly a satisfying and exciting moment for me when I viewed my results. While I am extremely proud of my achievements, I’m grateful to God, without whom none of this would be possible and of course for my wonderful family who were always supportive of my dreams,” she said happily.

For Naidoo, Accounting was her first choice of study. She realised that she had a passion for Accounting from her school days. “I fell in love with the subject as it challenged me. I knew that this was what I wanted to study and major in,” she said. In her three years of study she faced some challenges as a student, staying up till late night preparing for exams. “I also lived far from campus and travelled every day. So one of the challenges was the long hours of traveling, getting home late and still having to study, complete assignments and getting up early the next morning to repeat the process,” she explained.

Despite the difficult path at times, she confessed that there were good times, especially being able to make memories with her friends and meeting a lot of special people along the way.

Her next step entails obtaining an Advanced Diploma in Accounting Sciences and her long term goal is to become a chartered accountant. “My achievements will only be complete when I have CA(SA) after my name,” she said.
Pictured: Younisha Naidoo

Waheeda Peters