Keesha Petersen remembers exactly how she felt in 2021, staring at her matric results. The numbers on the page told a story she couldn’t and wouldn’t accept.

As a 2020 matriculant, Keesha’s final year of high school unfolded against the backdrop of a global pandemic. Masks, social distancing, and unprecedented disruption defined what should have been a celebratory milestone.

When her NSC results arrived, they fell short of the 60% mathematics requirement for Stellenbosch University (SU). The path forward seemed unclear, but Keesha refused to let that moment define her future.

She made a decision that would change everything: take a gap year and rewrite mathematics and physical sciences.

“I was like, let me take a gap year. I need to rewrite physics and maths, because those are the main subjects that would boost my average and help me get accepted,” she explains.

In June 2021, she sat for those exams again, and in January 2022, she joined SU.

Inspired by her father’s entrepreneurial journey as an electrician running his own business, she pursued a BCom in Management Sciences, specialising in business analytics and information systems management. But beyond the lecture halls, she discovered a version of herself she hadn’t known existed.

The gap year had taught her something valuable: She thrived when engaged, when challenged, when busy.

“In my gap year, I was doing nothing but studying. [Coming to SU] I wanted to do everything,” she recalls.

At SU, she turned that restless energy into action. She became a Maties Varsity Cup cheerleader, drawing on her love of dance from her days at The Settlers High School in Cape Town. She joined the Capri CSO as a mentor, then the senior committee. She served on the student committee of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences and as media officer for the Academic Affairs Council.

For some, this level of involvement might seem overwhelming. For Keesha, it was essential. “I work well under pressure, so I like to keep myself busy. I’m very active, and I don’t like sitting around.”

The 23-year-old has learnt to balance it all – academics, leadership, extracurriculars – through skills she first developed in high school and refined at university. But more than time management, she has developed something deeper: resilience. “I feel like it’s hard to bounce back, but once you do, it’s something that you always keep with you. It’s a really good skill to have.”

Now, with her graduation on 10 December, Keesha reflects on how far she’s come from that uncertain moment in early 2021. “When I think back to my matric self, I was like, ‘Oh, I have no idea what I’m going to do next year. I have no idea what I’m going to do with my future.’ It was just such a confusing time,” she shares. “I’ve come a very long way to get to this point. This graduation honestly means so much to me.”

Her advice to students facing similar crossroads is both practical and encouraging. She recommends taking time to assess options, whether that means a gap year, improving marks, or exploring different paths. And she urges students to push beyond their comfort zones.

“Try everything. Put yourself out there. You never know what you’re good at; you never know what you might like.”

Keesha’s journey doesn’t end at graduation. She’s been accepted at SU and the University of Cape Town for postgraduate studies in marketing and has secured an internship for mid-2026.

Reflecting on everything she has accomplished, Keesha is quick to acknowledge the source of her strength. “I could not have achieved any of this without the strength and guidance that the Lord Jesus Christ has given me,” she shares. “I am nothing without Him, and all thanks and glory go to Him for making everything possible.”

From a disappointed matric student to a resilient, engaged, and determined young woman ready to take on whatever comes next, Keesha’s journey is a reminder that the measure of success isn’t whether we stumble, but whether we choose to stand back up.