At 32, I never thought I would be writing about my university experience and yet here I am. My path to university was not the conventional route and yet many that read this post would be able to relate. Thinking back, to my Matric year, the dream of getting a university education was something I never thought possible. 

My biggest concern was funding. It became clear that my tertiary education would not be funded as the cultural expectation was that as a woman I did not need to further my education. I would remain at home and await marriage. Looking into other funding options was not easy as the pathways to these options were not easily accessible due to a lack of information. My only option was to look for a job to fund my studies.  Six months after Matric, I landed my first job, a stroke of luck, considering I was fresh out of school with no work experience.

After a year and a half of work, I was able to have enough to fund my studies through UNISA. The first hurdle was deciding what to study, as UNISA’s options were limited. On deciding what to study and looking through the information booklets, one needed to have a “degree” to figure out how their modules and coursework was structured.  When attending at the university for assistance the staff and student advisors were of no help, they were even more confused then I was on what the university had to offer. This was to become a common feature throughout my years studying.  After figuring out by myself how their degrees were structured, I was able to choose my degree and enrol at the university.

My course was structured around doing 30 modules, which on average would take 3 years to complete. It took 7 years to complete my degree as working, studying and having to attend to family commitments made it more difficult to complete as many modules in a year.  From being able to do 8 to 10 modules in my first few years it later turned into 2 and 3 modules a year. There were moments when I felt like dropping the course entirely due to tiredness and at times laziness. I would on occasion cancel exams as I wasn’t prepared to write. In some instances I would cancel an entire module because I felt I wasn’t able to cope with the coursework. Despite these obstacles, through perseverance and family support I completed my general BA degree. Knowing that a general BA degree wasn’t really going to open up many job opportunities for me, the decision to do a post graduate degree was a no-brainer. I applied to do my Honours degree, which again for an average university student could be done in one year. In my case it took 4 years to complete my honours on a part time basis. Again, there were moments when I wanted to throw in the towel because the coursework was too demanding and feedback from lecturers was limited.  However, through sheer perseverance I earned my Honours degree.

From thinking that I would never have the opportunity to go to university to being an honours graduate, working and studying to achieve my dream has been no easy feat. The road has been a long and arduous one but it has been well worth it and that no matter what if you have a dream, pursue it and it will come true.