GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Naedine Welmarique Swartz made her parents very proud and proved once more that, if one believes in oneself, all winds that blow will drive one bravely forward.

Daughter of Christopher and Noelene Swartz, this young lady completed her studies in Geology successfully at the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town recently.

As a toddler her parents enrolled her at the Khanyisa Day Care Center in Umasizakhe after which she attended Laer Volkskool for her primary school education. Her high school years followed at Hoër Volkskool and in 2012 she passed her Senior Certificate with merit, which secured university admission.

At first she opted to pursue a career in Maths and Social Sciences, but in her second year at university she decided to study towards a degree in Geology. It was not easy, she admits, to study so far away from home, make do with a meagre R500 pocket money per month as well as cope with her chosen field of study where subjects became increasingly more difficult as time passed.

However, Naedine strove towards achieving the best possible results in her studies. This paid off as in her second year of study, she was one of only 15% of students at the university who was awarded with the Golden Key Award. 

Good fortune smiled soon afterwards again when ESKOM in Johannesburg considered her progress worthy enough to be awarded a 100% bursary towards her studies.

Student unrests, disruption of classes at university and the complexity of her field of study were some of the huge challenges she had to face in her third year. The result was that she had to rewrite certain subjects in order to pay for her re-examinations. Naedine sacrificed her vacations by taking up temporary holiday jobs with ESKOM in Johannesburg.

She graduated in April of this year with a degree in Geology and now she has her mind set on furthering her studies in Hydrology (Water and Environmental Science) and enrolling for a Hons. Degree in this field of study as well. She is currently employed by ESKOM in Johannesburg.

From humble beginnings to a dream come true, this young lady from Graaff-Reinet underlines the wise words of Madiba “that something always seems impossible until it’s done”.

Her parents are deeply grateful to all who have been instrumental in their daughter’s road to success.

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