{"id":21233,"date":"2025-04-12T06:59:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-12T06:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/?p=21233"},"modified":"2025-07-31T11:15:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T11:15:06","slug":"from-suspension-notices-to-graduation-caps-a-student-leaders-comeback-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/from-suspension-notices-to-graduation-caps-a-student-leaders-comeback-story\/","title":{"rendered":"From suspension notices to graduation caps: a student leader’s comeback story"},"content":{"rendered":"

“From suspension to success, a former VUT SRC leader graduates in Safety Management, an inspiring story of resilience, leadership, and second chances.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 April 2025 | Story: Tshepang Mothibedi and Gracious Ngomane | Photo: Sifiso Nomzaza.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 minute read time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"From<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the spirited arena of student leadership, a former Student Representative Council (SRC) member has marked a personal victory, graduating with a Diploma in Safety Management from the Faculty of Human Sciences on 11 April 2025. His achievement is a powerful reminder of perseverance, transformation, and the triumph of the human spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hailing from Dan Village in Limpopo, his journey is deeply rooted in resilience. Raised in a modest household, he was guided by his parents\u2019 unwavering values of hard work and determination. “It is not easy because I must work overtime since I come from a disadvantaged background,” he shared, recalling the many sacrifices made to pursue his dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His time at VUT was far from smooth. As a student leader and activist, he endured several suspensions and battled to balance the demands of leadership with his academic responsibilities. \u201cI struggled to finish my diploma in record time due to suspensions and distractions that led me to lose focus on my academics,\u201d he admitted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the hurdles, his commitment to fellow students never wavered. His SRC tenure was defined by advocacy, courage, and compassion. \u201cSometimes leaders are born. I grew up being positioned as a leader. That is why I decided to join the SRC, to fight for students,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now standing proudly among graduates, he credits his support system, family, friends and mentors, for keeping him grounded and focused. His journey is a testament to the power of second chances and the impact of servant leadership.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“From suspension to success, a former VUT SRC leader graduates in Safety Management, an inspiring story of resilience, leadership, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21234,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news-vaal-university-of-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21233"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21233\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26187,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21233\/revisions\/26187"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vut.ac.za\/nso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}