The adjustment to university life can be very difficult and recent statistics from Statistics South Africa indicate that more than fifty percent of South African first years drop out of university. But for Jessica Fouche, being part of these statistics was never an option, even as she went through many trials during her academic journey at Stellenbosch University (SU).

During her first year, she was diagnosed with a rare learning disability, which affected her grades significantly. “In school, I was always considered the smart one, the driven one. When I set foot on campus this quickly changed. My early assessment marks were extremely poor; my parents, however, strongly felt that there had to be an alternative explanation for this. With the help of the Centre for Student Counselling and Development (CSCD) and a trusted educational psychologist, I was diagnosed with a learning disability for the first time."

After her diagnoses, Fouche received the necessary help and support from the University to help manage her studies and improve her marks. However, she was later also diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, which further affected her academic progress. Along with the realisation that the BAcc programme she was doing was not what she really wanted to pursue in the long term, it complicated her undergraduate studies even more.

“After I was diagnosed with the anxiety disorder, I realised I was either going to spend the next ten years working towards this goal just to prove people with learning disabilities could, or I could reconsider my goals and make a drastic change. I went through the entire University prospectus and circled the courses that appealed to the person I had discovered I was since arriving at university – a person who valued people more than numbers, a person who enjoyed being there for others. With the help of CSCD and various psychometric tests I decided to make a change."

Fouche had to reapply at SU to enrol for a BCom in Industrial Psychology. She was successfully readmitted to the University in 2016 and commenced her redirected studies. 

“In my final year I got married, was pregnant during the first half of the year and a new mom during the second half while my husband worked 700 km away as an engineer for a mining company. How I managed to complete my studies is a miracle! It took extreme amounts of perseverance, pep talks from family members and lots of logistical planning. Among the options discussed with my parents and husband was that I pause my studies. In my mind, it simply wasn't an option. I had been through five years of extreme challenges and I was determined to finish."

True to her word, and after many upheavals, Fouche graduated on Thursday, 04 April during the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (Group B) graduation ceremony.

“When I look back now, it seems impossible, but overcoming all of these challenges makes receiving this degree an extraordinary accomplishment; an accomplishment I would like to dedicate to my mother who set the example of tenacity and who never stopped believing in me."