Rhodes University congratulates the matric class of 2021 for showing their mettle as the future of humanity and making it against all odds in the face of unsettling circumstances wrought by the unpredictable COVID-19 pandemic during their critical milestone year.
“Like the previous year, 2021 was a difficult and stressful year for Grade 12 learners. We are in awe of the extraordinary character that they have shown in their resolve to accomplish their dreams,” Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Academic and Students Affairs, Professor ‘Mabokang Monnapula-Mapesela said.
“These are young people on a mission. They made a resolve and stuck to their commitment despite all the uncertainty, fear and anxiety brought about by the COVID-19 global pandemic.”
“Rhodes University is immensely proud of your achievement. We are looking forward to welcoming and partnering with those who have elected to continue their leadership journeys with us and reminding them that greater challenges and even more rewarding accomplishments lie ahead. They could not have chosen better.”
“They will learn in small classroom communities and directly from knowledge-makers, most of whom are professors and experts in their fields. They will stay in small residences where their names will know them. They will benefit from decades of academic excellence in shaping their futures.”
“We also want to remind those who may not have performed as they would have liked that life has its ups and downs. It is not the end of the world. This moment presents a test to their resolve and resilience as long as they keep their focus in life.”
Like Nelson Mandela, we believe that “education is a great engine of personal development. Through education, the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another,” Prof Monnapula-Mapesela said.
