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‘I define myself’ says ace Nitiksha
Author: Liezel Engelbrecht
Published: 05/12/2017

Where you come from does not have to dictate where you are headed. Dr Nitiksha Wesley once again proved this saying by not only overcoming difficult childhood circumstances, but also by becoming the first student enrolled in the MB,ChB extended degree programme at Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences to graduate cum laude.

“I grew up in Gelvandale in Port Elizabeth, a predominantly coloured community faced with its own struggles such as drug abuse and related crimes. My siblings and I were raised by a single working mother and a grandmother."

Nitiksha's motivation for working hard and achieving as much as she has thus far, stems from her determination to not let her circumstances define her. “I want to define me."

While choosing to become a doctor was a no-brainer for Nitiksha (“I've always viewed doctors as pillars in a community by helping and healing, and I wanted to do the same"), the path to studying medicine wasn't that easy.

“At the end of my matric year I was awarded the ThuThuka Bursary for chartered accountants. All my applications for bursaries for medicine was unsuccessful. I was thus left with the decision to study BCom Accounting with a full bursary, versus studying medicine (my dream) with no funding."

After seeking advice from her mom and elders, they told her it was her decision to make. So with a lot of faith and still no bursary, she boarded the bus to Cape Town to study medicine.

“It was the toughest decision I've ever had to make, considering my background."

But her hopefulness paid off and after a few months at SU she was awarded a bursary by the Eastern Cape Department of Health. “I have not once regretted my decision!"

She is humbled to have been able to pass her degree with honours, and attributes it partially to adhering to a strict daily study routine she set for herself from her first until her final year. “I balanced it with having fun weekends or studying at another venue off campus, just to keep sane."

In difficult times it was her faith and support network, consisting of her family and partner, that helped her to stay motivated and to maintain perspective.

Nitiksha says success is being able to achieve the goals you set for yourself. After completing her community service year at Kimberley Hospital in the Northern Cape, her next goal is to qualify as a general surgeon before sub-specialising in transplant surgery. “I would like to work as a transplant surgeon and to have the influence to expand this field in the public sector."

To stay grounded, Nitiksha would like to remind her 50-year-old self of what she had to go through to get where she was. She would say: “Be forever grateful and never forget where you come from."

Caption: Dr Nitiksha Wesley is the first student enrolled in the MB,ChB extended degree programme at Stellenbosch University's (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences to graduate cum laude.