When Kristin Trout walked across the stage at one of Stellenbosch University's (SU) March graduation ceremonies to receive her BA Sport Science degree, she did so for her whole family. "I felt as if I was graduating for them," she says.

The 21-year-old from Ottery in Cape Town, who is the first person in her family to graduate from University, says her sense of pride is tremendous.

Kristin, who completed her degree with financial help from SU as well as the Andreas and Susan Strüngmann Foundation, says coming from a single-parent household was tough financially, but the bursaries took the financial strain off her mom.  "When applying for university, I was offered a recruitment bursary from SU based on my academics and I was lucky enough to receive a partial scholarship from Students for a Better Future Foundation (SBF)."

She says her relationship with SBF started in high school already when the Foundation funded her entire high school career. The SBF Scholarship Programme is an initiative of the Andreas and Susan Strüngmann Foundation that was set up in 2008 to fund educational initiatives currently focused in the Western Cape. The Foundation's SBF programme gives academically gifted and financially needy students the opportunity to attend some of the best high schools in the Cape Town area to help them develop their talents.

Explains Juliet Glover, Head of the SBF Foundation: "We support approximately 500 high school children and university students in the Western Cape. The Foundation identifies and recruits scholarship recipients in their Grade 7 year, then funds the students through high school. By the time our students get to university, we have known them for six years. And by the time a student graduates from university he or she would have been with the Foundation for between 9 and 10 years. We feel overwhelmingly proud to see our young adults graduate and take their place in the working world."

According to Glover, the Foundation's vision is for every scholarship recipient to find their place in the world, support their own family and give back to their community and to society. “And with every student that graduates, this vision is closer to being realised."

SBF currently supports 16 Matie students and is keen on growing this number in future. “We have been so pleased to establish our partnership with Stellenbosch University and have been impressed with the support our students receive. This year, we placed more students than in 2017 and we look forward to growing our numbers at SU each year," Glover adds.

For Kristin the financial and emotional support she received from SBF gave her that extra boost that she needed to succeed. "Having SBF involved with my high school education as well as my tertiary education helped me so much in terms of having another family behind me."

With her first degree in the bag, Kristin is tackling yet another degree this year and again the SBF will be there to provide support. "I am currently doing a degree in BSc Computer Science. My plans for the future is to finish this new degree and get a job that involves programming within the sport science field. I would love to go into a career that will allow me to apply my knowledge in both of these fields. I have been fortunate enough to receive partial funding from SBF again and am very grateful to have them behind me for another degree," she adds.

Kristin says the most important thing that she has learnt is to never give up on herself. "There were many times during my years of study that I thought I would not be able to make it, but through perseverance and hard work I was able to achieve my goal. I will be forever grateful to my amazing family as well as all the people in my life that never gave up on me."

Her advice to other young people is to strive to do your best. "Life can be hard and there are many challenges to face, but if you surround yourself with people who uplift you, nothing can stop you. Don't stop believing in yourself and never let anyone bring you down. Stay positive, you can do this!"

• Photo: Vera Schaupp, Programme Officer at the Andreas & Susan Strüngmann Foundation, came to support Kristin at her graduation ceremony. (Photographer: Anton Jordaan)