The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) welcomed an enthusiastic batch of first-years to an information session held at the Kruiskerk on Friday. The Faculty traditionally welcomes 1 550 newcomers every year.

The students were welcomed by the Dean, Prof Ingrid Woolard; the Vice-Dean (Teaching and Learning), Prof Ronel du Preez; other staff members and the Faculty's student committee, the EBSK.

Prof Woolard told the students that out of the 787 000 learners who wrote the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in 2019, less than 30 000 satisfied the Faculty's admission requirements. She encouraged them to hold fast to this statistic which, she said, would hold them in good stead during the course of their studies.

“So you are a very elite and special group, and we know that you are top performers. We want you to hold on to that because the difficulty students often face coming into this environment is that they are used to being top performers at their various schools. Now suddenly they are coming into an environment where everyone is a top performing student and you are achieving results that are close to class average.

"I want you to remember that you are a top three-percent performer, and that you are extremely privileged to access higher education.”

She also encouraged them to open themselves to meeting new people of all backgrounds and to build networks which would stand them in good stead in the future.

“Look around you at the people in this room. Some are going to go on to be captains of industry or directors-general in important government departments, maybe even cabinet ministers. This is an incredibly powerful network of people you have around you. And you want to make sure that you build that network over the next few years,” said Woolard.

Du Preez elaborated on five decisions she said will determine whether students leave SU with only a matric certificate, low self-esteem and huge study debts or whether they will graduate in 2022 with a feeling of accomplishment and achievement.

This included choosing the right study programme and the importance of student engagement, support, time management and class attendance.

Antoinette Lotter, EBSK chairperson, said EMS is a very exciting faculty to be a part of.

“There is in an incredible range of things that you can do once you leave SU as well as many fascinating opportunities while you are here,” she said. “Over the last three years, I have seen students start their own businesses, start charities, create very impressive investment portfolios and take part in incredible programmes.”