Young Lady Who Dropped Out of University Goes From Selling Tupperware to Becoming a Doctor
- Vhahangwele Rashaka gambled with her studies when she dropped out of university after receiving a bursary to study at the University of Venda
- She moved from being a university dropout to selling Tupperware and taking photos at creche graduations
- The determined young woman eventually received a bursary to study medicine in Cuba after failing her second year and made a vow never to fail again
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By Freelance Reporter - Farai Diza
One philosopher once stated that the streets are the foundation of some people's dreams. A young lady once knew the streets by name as she hustled to make ends meet. But today the streets are now whispering her name after she realised her dreams.
That narrative best sums up the life of Vhahangwele Rashaka. The 30-year-old chose to follow her dreams and the fruits have been very rewarding.
Source: UGC
Rashaka realised she was on the wrong career path when she enrolled to study teaching at the University of Venda.
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"During that journey, I had applied for funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS). Midway through my studies, I then received a call from the department of education to sign the bursary papers. But instead of going to sign the papers, I decided against pursuing a teaching career and I dropped out of university."
Going for her dreams to study medicine
Rashaka wanted to become a doctor and she knew that accepting the education bursary would prevent her from receiving one from teaching. So she did what many young people wouldn't dare to do. She dropped out of university.
She gambled with her studies, hoping to get the big catch. But that was the beginning of her struggles as financial woes quickly caught up with her.
Her struggles were further propelled by her family's disappointment after she told them that she had quit university.
Her family had seen her university enrollment as her golden ticket to a better life, never mind the bursary she had spurned.
"I can still recall the disappointment on my family members' faces after I told them that I had quit," she stated.
Making the most of a hard situation
With nothing else to do, Rashaka knew that she had to start raking in some income to start sustaining herself.
"There were no jobs in sight. I started selling Tupperware and cosmetics. I also had a camera so I started taking photos at creche graduations as well as birthday parties.
Source: UGC
Finally getting to study medicine in Cuba
In 2012 she got a call from the Limpopo department of health to inform her that her application for a scholarship to study medicine in Cuba was approved.
A year later, in November 2013, she was among 100 students from Limpopo to go and further their studies in Cuba.
Cuba also had challenges of its own as it was compulsory to study Spanish to avoid the language barrier.
"My first year in Cuba was more about studying Spanish. My journey to studying medicine finally began in 2014. I failed my second year but I was given another chance which I capitalised on.
Rashaka went on to complete her final year at Wits University and she has been the pride and joy of her community.
"I knew from a young age that I wanted to become a doctor. When I used to see sick people, I was always the first person willing to help. I would like to impart my knowledge to people living in rural areas. I would like to provide them with adequate training about basic life support," she added.
She hopes to specialise in emergency medicine and she has no plans of opening her own private practice. That is simply because her heart lies in the public healthcare service.
Her story is such an inspiring one. She got a bursary that she spurned. She sold Tupperware and finally got to become a doctor.
Mzansi’s youngest doctor’s story of hard work inspires South Africans
In a separate story, Briefly News previously reported that Dr Sandile Kubheka went down in Mzansi's history books as one of the youngest medical doctors in history. Kubheka started Grade 1 at the age of five. While completing Grade 6, Kubheka was promoted to Grade 7.
The Newcastle native matriculated at the age of 15 and enrolled at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Kubheka served his medical residency at Grey's Hospital in Pietermaritzburg.
According to UKZN, he is planning on registering for a Master's of Medicine degree and wants to specialise in internal medicine.
Source: Briefly News
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
Nothando Mthembu (Senior editor) Nothando Mthembu is a senior multimedia journalist and editor. Nothando has over 5 years of work experience and has served several media houses including Caxton Local Newspapers. She has experience writing on human interest, environment, crime and social issues for community newspapers. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree and an Honours Degree in Media Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, obtained in 2016 and 2017. Nothando has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. Email: nothando.mthembu@briefly.co.za
