​As part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences is introducing 60 future healthcare professionals who are currently in their first year. Meet Allison Arendse.

Looking back at her life, Allison Arendse from Kuils River wants to know for sure that she has nothing left to give: that she has spent her entire self, pursued her every passion, reached her highest potential and made use of every talent she was given. And so far she’s on the right track.

Her high school resumé includes taking part in the Google Science Fair, winning a silver medal in the national leg of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair and category winner at the regional and provincial level of the South African Youth Water Prize with the her cost-effective water purifier aimed at rural Africa. She also matriculated with seven distinctions.Now Arendse, a first year MB,ChB student, is determined to realise her goal of one day working as a specialist in a public hospital in South Africa. Arendse even turned down a R500 000 bursary from SASOL to study chemical engineering in pursuit of this dream. "I had many sleepless nights about what I should do. A day before my reply to SASOL was due, I received news of my recruitment bursary to study medicine at Stellenbosch, and today I am studying what I am truly passionate about."More about Allison:

• Hidden talents? “I can paint and draw very well.”
• What do you do when procrastinating? “I play piano.”
• Favourite TV series? “Grey’s Anatomy.”
• What would you write on a billboard? “I can. I will. I must. Never give up.”