Overcoming challenges
By Nhlalala Baloyi, 19, Limpopo
We have to understand that challenges will come, challenges that are way beyond our control but that doesn’t mean that we have to change routes whenever we encounter a problem. We just have to be able to make the necessary adjustments and be patient.
In 2018, I got admitted to the University of Johannesburg (Apk), for a course I applied for which was BSc Civil Engineering which also, is the only course I ever wanted to do. A challenge came within a week of study and I had cancelled my registration for the course. That was the worst feeling ever. I didn’t have any other institutions I applied to and I thought that it was the end of the dream I had.
The pressure to be studying or to be in a university after completing Grade 12 is so much that you are willing to take any course to find yourself in any institution of higher learning. So, I ended up in Vaal University of Technology (VUT) studying NDT (Non-Destructive Testing), which even now I know nothing about.
I met some good people and I’m grateful for that, but academically it was a mess simply because I did not see myself there in the first place. So, I tried to change the course during the year but it wasn’t possible. I talked with the Head of Departments and it still didn’t work – I even had a fight with the one the professors!! That’s how bad I wanted to do Civil Engineering.
After completing my first year in VUT, I went back home and I told myself that if it’s not civil engineering that I’ll be doing in 2019 then I’m not back to complete the course. And so, 2019 came and it was late February when I thought of sending an email to the Head of Department of Tshwane University of Technology and luckily, he wrote back and told me to come and register because I sent him my results already.
I’m currently doing my second year in Civil Engineering and I’m grateful for the chance he gave me. I am explaining this to you so that you understand that each and every person has battles and challenges you know nothing about. Be kind and don’t judge, because you know nothing about what they had to go through to be in a position they are in today.
Believe in your dreams and be ready to meet challenges along the way, but above all, no challenge is permanent.
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Also went through the pressure of looking for a school that would offer me a course of my choice. I got into it however because I couldn’t find space at a public university I ended up financing my studies through loans.
I’m happy like you, with where I am at. I agree with you on the being kind aspect. Mistakes happen, I mean you ended up at VUT and someone could say it was a waste of a year. But it was the journey you had to take towards your dream.
Cuddos to you for following your North star.
I had a similar experience. I applied for Medicine and Drama at Wits but I only attended my audition for drama and didn’t write my NBT. When I got accepted for drama and my classmates were getting accepted for things like Accounting and Engineering and the Sciences, I started feeling pressurized. I regretted my decision and was even ashamed of my choice. I was depressed in my first year, trying to do the impossible just like you, getting into a different course immediately. But then second year came and I got an invitation to join Golden Key and along the way of trying to change degrees, I found that my other interest BioMed instead of MBCHB. I am in third year now and next year is my final year. After which I will be doing BioMed. What this experience taught me is that I have a passion for both the Arts and Sciences and that everything happens for a reason because look at the opportunity I got and the things I learned about myself. I am excited now going forward, to have a career that expresses both my passions. I even have plans for it all. Plans I didn’t have 3 years ago.