University of Western Cape (UWC) student Keaton Harris is graduating with a total of 24 distinctions! He finished at the University as valedictorian and was awarded Summa Cum Laude.
Western Cape, South Africa (13 April 2017) – Keaton Harris has faced a fair few challenges in his life! Like coming from a single-parent household, he recalls his family struggling to keep up with daily expenses. Now he is the first member of his family to graduate from university.
Keaton has graduated and accumulated 24 distinctions over his university career. He was awarded one of two Summa Cum Laude awards and named valedictorian.
Summa cum laude is an academic level of distinction used by educational institutions to signify an academic degree received “with highest honour.”
The first 8 distinctions were earned in Keaton’s first year at university, he made a great impression on the Natural Sciences department.
“I basically sacrificed four years of my life in order to separate myself from the rest of the crowd. I would go to every class and put in extra hours of studying when others were sleeping. I knew what I wanted and I went about making those dreams a reality‚”
Keaton lost his funding in his second year, but his professors refused to let him miss out; they provided him with the opportunity to continue his studies. He remained optimistic, though, because he believes that every student has something they have to struggle with.
“Everyone has their own mountains to climb‚ obstacles to overcome. You just have to surround yourself with positive people who want to see you succeed. But at the end of the day it’s you walking across that stage with your degree‚ so you are ultimately responsible for achieving your dreams‚”
Thanks to that opportunity, Keaton became the top of his class‚ and the youngest recipient of the Abe Bailey Travel bursary in the last half century. This allowed him to meet with other top university students in London to discuss the future of South Africa.
“The programme made me realise there were so many like-minded individuals who are able and want to talk about the issues facing South Africa. The saying goes ‘iron sharpens iron’, and by being challenged by those other students, I really grew. Of course, being thrust into a different cultural environment also forced me to grow‚”
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Cape Town Kayakers Rescue Starving African Penguin Far Out to SeaKeaton is in the process of applying to medical school with the goal of studying cardiothoracic surgery. He had a massive after-school focus in the medical field, organising HIV awareness drives, and he won several clinical skills competitions.
“As we grow, we all want to be this and want to be that‚ but there always seems to be that one defining moment that says this is it. For me, it was when I was admitted to the hospital for having an asthma attack. The person next to me was seizing, and as a Boy Scout, I had some first aid training. Being able to just react and step in to help this man made me realise this is it‚”
Keaton said that, above all else, making his mother proud has been the best part of it all!
“When I went up on that stage, I could hear her shouting for me, ‘Yes‚ yes‚ yes!’ and that made all of the work worth it. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her or any of my family‚”
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