After a close friend died in his arms, he dropped out of school in grade 11. That is where Jerome Samuels’ academic journey could have ended. But next week he will proudly walk across the stage at UWC to receive his PhD, which he started in 2017.
Samuels life has been one of conquering insurmountable challenges. And today is not different as he runs his first Two Oceans half marathon after recuperating from eight lung operations.
Samuels who is a pastor said his faith has sustain him through main difficult times.
“My motto in life is I may not be where I want to be but I think it’s better than where I used to be,” he said
UWC’s autumn graduation, a seven-day graduation programme – the biggest after the Covid-19 pandemic – will see more than 4 000 undergraduates and postgraduate students being capped.
The first of the ceremonies was held on Friday.
Among them are 76 PhDs, 236 Master's and 635 Honours graduates. Furthermore, 2 726 degrees, 351 advanced or postgraduate diplomas, 99 higher certificates and 36 postgraduate certificates will be awarded.
Samuels, a husband and father of two was raised in the troubled area of Hanover Park. The 51-year-old worked as a trolley boy, a packer at Grand Bazaars, taxi-door operator and a general hand at Golden Arrow Bus Services.
After being retrenched from Golden Arrow, he finished high school and started working at the Department of Correctional Services. Today he is the Area Coordinator: Development and Care at the Goodwood Correctional Centre. Samuels’ dissertation is titled: The Development of Guidelines to Enhance the Framework for the Management of Recidivism in the Department of Correctional Services in the Western Cape. Recidivism is when an offender, upon release of custody, relapses and commits a crime again. Samuels explained that recidivism in South Africa is an emerging science. “The management of recidivism is, therefore, unclear, hence, this study is aimed to develop guidelines for the management of recidivism in the Department of Correctional Services in the Western Cape in South Africa,’’ he said.
Samuels also has a slot on radio on Sundays in which he reads letters families have penned to prisoners. “The prisoners can listen to messages in their cells.”
On Friday, UWC Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Pretorius, proudly opened the first graduation session.
“UWC is the home of winners,” said he told graduands in the Jakes Gerwel Hall: “Last night was an amazing night for the university…our rugby team emerged as Champions of the Varsity Shield.”
Arguably, no one had that winning feeling more than Reece Bocks, who is a member of the UWC Rugby team, lifted the Varsity Shield trophy on Thursday, and then graduated with his Bachelor of Education Degree on Friday.
Mariam Sasman was speechless when asked how she was feeling after she was capped with her Doctor of Philosophy degree. Her thesis - A Capability Analysis of academic support of NC (V) students at public TVET colleges in the Western Cape - made use of evaluative and effective reasoning to determine how students’ freedoms are enhanced and if free agency is enhanced in student experience at TVET colleges.
Sasman also designed an Academic Student Support Framework to converge the efforts of functionaries and lecturers in TVET colleges.
Professor Pretorius told the graduands that they “are our hope for the future.”
“We know it looks bleak out there: rising costs of living, bleak economic prospects and rampant corruption are some of the ills that haunt us as a country. Despite all this, UWC has stood proud and determined to overcome its historical deficit,” he said.
In true UWC fashion, some doctoral and master's graduates have completed groundbreaking research that is set to improve the world - and in some cases, the galaxy.
These include Mpendulo Sibiya's Master's thesis, The Interstellar Medium Scaling Relations in Cosmological Simulations. It tested how well computer simulations of the evolution of galaxies in the cosmos reproduce or predict the physical properties of galaxies seen in their observations with telescopes.
Bakani Ncube’s research, The Implementation of the African Union Model Law on Medical Products Regulation and the Establishment of the African Medicines Agency, is relevant to public health and improving access to medicines on the African continent through harmonisation of medicines regulation and the establishment of the African Medicines Agency.