“Obtaining the Dean’s Merit award has been a goal of mine from first year. Receiving this prestige award means the world to me. I was happy to know I had achieved my goal after all the late nights I spent studying. Making my parents proud is a huge achievement on its own. It’s the beginning of many more to come,” she said elatedly.

The 23-year-old Nadine Ponnusamy has achieved the Dean’s Merit awards in her Bachelor of the Built Environment in Urban and Regional Planning, and will be graduating at the Durban University of Technology’s (DUT’s) Virtual Graduation ceremony on 10 June 2020.

She stressed that the field that she’s in is very interesting and has given her great insight which she needed when advancing into the working world. This course has made her an extremely versatile person and has taught her much more than she had expected. The knowledge that this course has imparted on her will be useful in her everyday life.

Being a young woman in such a field, she feels overwhelmed with joy and there are not enough words to express how she really feels about her achievement. “Being a young woman in the Field of Engineering and the Built Environment and receiving this award goes to show that with hard work and perseverance, anything is possible no matter your age, gender or race. I hope to inspire many young people who have similar aspirations,” she said.

Speaking about her challenges about as a student, she said that during her three years of studying she had faced countless difficulties. “I had many transportation issues and financially it was very difficult for my family to pay for my fees. Although I had met the requirements to be funded by NSFAS, I was rejected every year I had applied,” she said.

She advises students who want to study in the same field that it is an interesting field and has given her great insight which she needs when advancing into the working world. “This course has made me an extremely versatile person and has taught me much more than I expected. The knowledge that this course has imparted on me will be useful in my everyday life,” she said.

Ponnusamy is currently working as a part-time tutor at DUT, tutoring first and second year students. Her future aim is to be a project manager or become an environmental planner or a GIS specialist.

Pictured: Nadine Ponnusamy

Waheeda Peters