Thanks to your purchases, Thokozani Mhlanga is a November 2017 graduate of African Christian College and a UKWAZI Scholarship Recipient. Below, he tells his story of getting to and completing college.
Having spent eight years trying to get into a proper college and further my studies, all hope was gone. I had given up on higher education and was in the process of throwing in the towel until one day a workmate introduced me to African Christian College.
At first I refused to even apply because I had told myself maybe I am not meant for university education. A couple of months later, I told myself I would just apply even though I knew I was not going to be accepted. What was at the back of my mind is that if the government colleges wouldn’t accept with the good grades I had, what would be different with African Christian College.
I applied without much faith in it. Surprisingly within two weeks, I received a letter notifying me that my application was successful. I couldn’t believe it and I was overjoyed and excited about the new direction my life was taking, after a long time of trying.
I couldn’t wait to get started at African Christian College, and even though I had not been on campus physically, I had imaginations of how the life would be. I arrived on campus mid-January and was one of the first students in the first-year class to report for classes.
While the college was quiet and nice, it felt deeply exciting to be in a place where I had a chance to interact and rub shoulders with many people from many different nations and cultures. The environment was different and the life on campus was not what one is used to coming from a rural area.
The classes couldn’t start soon enough for I was so excited to be in class in a proper college. I was convinced that I was at the right place at a right time and that’s what this place has remained to be.
I am academically challenged daily, with the rigor of all the courses that one has to take and the expectation of doing well. Using the library became the most challenging of all academic expectations for me as a student. But being at African Christian College is a blessing because everybody was willing to help whenever I hit a wall.
This is where I learned servanthood and altruism, whereby you selflessly give yourself to help others, sometimes at the cost of your time. This attitude has been embedded to me now and am about to leave the college having learned empathy and compassion.
Out of class, there were various activities all year through that we all could attend and participate in the campus would reverberate and come alive. Joining the soccer team was a very easy decision even though I also wanted to be in the choir. The team I found and became a member of grew to be a force to be reckoned with. The proudest moment I shared with the college team was the triumph in the 2018 Colleges Tournament where we came out as eventual winners of the first position. I couldn’t have been more proud because the team had matured well and the brotherhood was formed.
My spiritual life is probably the biggest beneficiary in my overall time here. The scripture about ‘rightly dividing the word of truth’ became my motivation to learn and how to be more like Jesus. The learning happened in class as well as out of class as we lived within the community of believers. The way the people exemplified the love of Christ taught us as a family more a lot than the sermons and lessons.
African Christian College changed me and improved my relationship with God and other people because of the life lived on campus. We have a wonderful loving community of believers and wouldn’t wish to be in another place.
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You can restore the hope for students like Thokozani through your purchases of UKWAZI macadamia nuts and oil. 100% of our profits support the work of African Christian College where our macadamias are grown. A Better Nut. A Better World.
