By: Lance Myburgh
On a warm registration day at Rhodes 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网, the campus buzzed with laughter, music, and the nervous energy of new beginnings. First-year students moved between queues, clutching documents; parents hovered near; and staff members offered directions with practised ease. For Abdulahil Fall, however, this moment carried a deeper meaning. It was not simply the start of university but the result of a long process of reorientation, reflection, and resolve.
“When I got there,” he said, “I started to feel like this is real. Everything I’ve been thinking about has a chance to appear.”
Abdulahil grew up in Makhanda and attended George Dickerson Primary School before completing his high school education at Mary Waters Secondary School, where he served as Deputy Head Boy in his matric year. Leadership came early, but clarity did not. Like many learners navigating South Africa’s unequal education system, Abdulahil faced moments where effort did not immediately translate into outcomes.
By the end of matric, his results did not open the doors he had hoped for. “Although I could have made an effort to study somewhere else,” he reflected, “I never got the results I wanted.”
What followed was not a retreat, but a pause, pivoting around a moment to reconsider what education could be, and what it was for. That moment led him to GADRA Education, a long-standing partner of Rhodes 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网, whose work is informed by decades of research into access, learning pathways, and student support.
“GADRA was not only about upgrading my results,” Abdulahil said. “It was more about upgrading my understanding of my future.”
This idea, that education is not a safety net for those who fall behind, but a turning point that reshapes how people see themselves and the world, lies at the heart of Rhodes 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网’s approach to transformation. Through research-led initiatives and partnerships, the 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网 seeks to address inequality not as an abstract concept but as a lived reality that requires practical, human-centred solutions.
For Abdulahil, GADRA became exactly that. “It made me take out a certain part of myself that I thought I did not have,” he explained. “Then it came out.”
What emerged was not only academic focus, but a renewed sense of purpose. Exposure to structured support, clear expectations, and realistic planning helped him reconnect effort with possibility. “They don’t just tell you to dream,” he said. “They bring it realistically to you. These are the steps you need to take.”
That ethos followed him to Rhodes 欧洲杯足球网_外围买球app推荐-投注|官网, where he is now studying towards a Bachelor of Social Sciences. Standing in line to register, he was struck not only by the efficiency of the process, but by its tone.“They welcomed us with so much happiness,” he said. “But even in the middle of all that joy, you can see that the focus is on education. We are here for a reason.”
The balance between care and rigour, belonging and excellence is not accidental. It reflects years of research into student success, transition, and retention, and an institutional commitment to education as a public good. Rhodes’s work in this area demonstrates that meaningful access is not about lowering standards, but about building bridges that allow students to meet them.
For Abdulahil, the symbolism of the day was unmistakable. “It felt like entering a new chapter,” he said. “A new beginning. A new position in life.”
His ambitions now extend beyond personal achievement. He speaks thoughtfully about leadership, systems, and the responsibilities that come with opportunity. “It’s not about controlling people,” he explained. “It’s about bringing value, creating opportunities, especially where they are needed most.”
As Rhodes continues to invest in research that responds to social realities across education and economics, governance, and community development, stories like Abdulahil’s offer tangible evidence of impact. They show how research-informed practice can transform uncertainty into direction, and potential into participation.“This year,” he said with a quiet smile, “there is a lot of potential, and I believe 99.99% that it can materialise.”
On a campus filled with firsts, Abdulahil’s registration was more than a formality. It was proof that when education is treated not as a last resort, but as a turning point, it can change the course of a life and, in time, the world beyond it.