Cape Town - Discipline, dedication and determination is the high school motto assistant lecturer Cole de Villiers used throughout his tertiary education as a recipe to succeed.
A cancerous tumour in his pelvis, a hip replacement and his mother undergoing a triple bypass during his matric year did not stop De Villiers from going for his goals.
De Villers is working towards his second degree in Public Development Management (Administration) and has achieved eight distinctions in the field, including four Dean’s Merit List positions and is the assistant lecturer for the Department of Economics and a recipient of the NRF Honours Research Scholarship at Stellenbosch University.
De Villiers, 22, of Portlands in Mitchells Plain, is proof that despite the challenges in life, to never give up.
At just 12, De Villiers fell at his primary school, Montagu Drive.
But it was this incident which led doctors to undergo tests and scans to discover that his hip was ageing rapidly and they noted the early stages of a tumour being present.
Surgeons at Vincent Pallotti Hospital then removed a huge portion of his hip in order to remove the tumour.
De Villiers had to undergo a hip replacement surgery.
In 2013, he began his journey at Mondale High School where he learnt the motto, discipline, dedication and determination from then principal, Owen Bridgens.
In 2018, in his matric year, de Villiers’ mother, Desiree, suffered a major heart attack and needed a triple bypass.
“After I fell at school, the pain got worse and I was referred to a specialist at Vincent Pallotti Hospital,” he said.
“The blood work was done and tests showed that my hip was ageing fast and there were early stages of a cancerous tumour.
“I was in Grade 7 at the time. They had to take a big part of my hip and hip replacement was done. I had to undergo physiotherapy.
“I didn’t let that stop me, I continued to attend school and made it to my matric year.”
Desiree, 54, said she placed her operation on hold for her son to complete his exemptions and to see to his matric ball.
“It was between life and death and I told the doctors to wait until my son’s matric ball was complete,” said Desiree.
“I put Cole first, and his matric ball was on November 27, and after that, my operation was scheduled.”
During de Villiers’ third year at university, he took on economics as subject, not knowing it would pave the way for him tutoring and lecturing more than 100 students as an assistant.
“I had not done economics during my high school career, and in my third year, I took it on,” he added.
“I then became the teaching assistant in 2022, this year. I also tutored economics in 2021, in my third year. I am now doing my second degree in public administration.
“The pandemic has shown us we need to be versatile, and my years at university also showed me how to face new challenges.
“My lecturer would be on another side of the province, and I would have to lecture or tutor students, and sometimes as an assistant lecturer, there are 170 students.
“At university, you always need to be ready. You always will be challenged,” he said.
De Villiers said he wanted his story to inspire others than if you work hard, and if you are disciplined, you can achieve it: “Discipline, dedication and determination is what Mr Bridgens said, and it stuck with me.
“To youth out there, be disciplined and to become better individuals and to inspire.
“It is also the support of my parents.”
Desiree, who is a dressmaker and designs school uniforms for clientele around the country, said he had inspired his siblings to study further. “He is a role model, and the others followed.”