BY OWETHU DLAMINI
MBABANE– Braving it through COVID-19 and achieving success in a foreign country!
Ululations and cheers were the sounds of the two days at University of Botswana (UB) in Gaborone, where a group of about 30 emaSwati graduated amongst other Batswana on October 20 and 21, 2022.
Each studying under different fields, these young people ventured into their different journeys at the university years ago and were happy to celebrate their achievements on these two days as UB celebrated them as well as being in existence for 40 years.
Not leaving out how the COVID-19 pandemic affected their learning at some point, these graduates were recognised by the university leaders as individuals with resilience, braving through the storms that came with being an international student during the pandemic.
The former students took part in programs including Bachelor of Accountancy, Bachelor of Psychology, Bachelor of Media Studies, Bachelor of Finance, Bachelor of Arts (Humanities), Bachelor of Arts (Library and Information Studies), Bachelor of Science (Statistics), Bachelor of Medicine, during their journey. The list is not exhaustive and does not exclude those who were attaining their Masters Degrees.
Expressing gratitude and happiness, the graduates took to their social media platforms and made it known what they had achieved, thanking the Lord, their friends as well as family members for their unwavering support as they were at school.
The Chancellor of the University of Botswana, Tebelelo Mazile-Seretse, congratulated the class of 2022 and wished all graduates well in their future endeavors in the future.
“This is indeed a special day to celebrate both the 40th anniversary of the University and your graduation! You made it despite the COVID-19 pandemic. I applaud you all for your resoluteness and focus on that which you set out to achieve. It is my firm conviction that each one of you is ready to make meaningful contribution to all professions which you will absorb,” said Seretse.
The University of Botswana has been ranked among Sub-Saharan Africa’s top 15 in the 2022 World University Rankings by the London-based organisation, Times Higher Education (THE), by subject area in clinical and health and Social Sciences.
This institution has accommodated and continues to accommodate students from all parts of the world including Eswatini, Sri Lanka, South Africa, United States of America (USA), Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Lesotho, India, South Korea to name a few.
