I had a Bachelor's pass.

In my mind, that meant one thing: university.

Like so many matriculants, I pictured myself packing for residence, attending orientation week, stressing over assignments, and finally beginning the chapter I had worked so hard for. I thought passing with a Bachelor's was the finish line. What no one prepares you for is discovering that a Bachelor's pass doesn't guarantee you a seat.

The rejection emails came anyway.

2022

Again.

2023

Just like that bangani, everything I had planned for myself fell apart. I wanted to be the one who broke the cycle of my family not making it to university. I wanted my younger siblings to believe it was possible because I had done it first. But at that moment, it felt like none of that would ever happen.

So I enrolled at an adult school in 2024.

Not because I had failed, but because a bachelor's pass with zero distinctions wasn't enough to get me where I wanted to be. I needed better marks. Higher APS points. A stronger chance of getting into university the next time applications opened.

It was difficult to explain to people.

How do you tell someone that you passed matric, yet somehow still weren't enough?

Now, my parents. Those people gave me nothing but love and support, yet I still felt like I had disappointed them. More than anything, I wanted to give them the experience of saying,

“Our child is in university."

Every morning I sat in a classroom that felt like a reminder that I was taking a different route than everyone I knew. Friends were posting campus photos, making new friends, complaining about lectures. I was rewriting subjects I had already passed. Kwakub’hlungu, I don’t want to lie.

I kept wondering whether I was falling behind. Whether everyone else was getting ahead while I was standing still. There were days when I questioned if I was wasting a whole year of my life.

Looking back now, I realise something I couldn't see then.

A delayed journey isn't a cancelled dream.

That gap year taught me resilience long before university ever could. It taught me that sometimes the path to where you're meant to be isn't the one you planned. Sometimes it requires swallowing your pride, trying again, and believing that one extra year doesn't define the rest of your life.

“Patience is a virtue.”

That’s what my grandma used to say.

At the time, I hated hearing those words. Every time she said them, I would roll my eyes because I couldn't understand how waiting could ever be a good thing.

But oh, she was right!

Eventually, in 2025, I got enrolled at university. My upgraded results from Umalusi included two distinctions, my NSFAS funding was approved, I moved to a different province, and I got to study a course I never imagined myself choosing, yet it turned out to be exactly what I needed.

To top it all off, I even became a tutor.

If you had told the younger me that one day I would be earning a salary while helping other students, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

Sometimes, the things we wait the longest for turn out to be the ones worth waiting for!❤️

#DontGiveUpBlackChild.