Meet Celeste Hermanson, a current student who is doing her PGD in Financial Planning. In this blog article she shares her journey at USB so far:

During the course of 2017 I decided to apply for the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Planning as I was in a stable job where I had the support of my colleagues. At that point in time I did not realise how much I would appreciate their support like I do today.

When I received the email from the department stating that my application was successful, I danced around the office out of joy as I was not certain if I would make the cut.

Then came orientation. For the first time in five years I was back in a classroom, with students who had just completed their undergraduate degrees and more experienced individuals who, like me, returned to the classroom after many years. What a weird feeling that was!

When Dr Lee-Ann Steenkamp (programme head) took us through the outline for the year I kept asking myself, “How am I going to balance working and studying?” This was a difficult task as class started the next day and the work load was like nothing I could remember. I started thinking that being a full-time student was maybe easier, but as I enjoy challenges I was going to give it my all. And so I did.

As the weeks past the work we had done was sinking in (I was very diligent by making summaries of everything as I was not sure how I was going prepare the first test) but at the same time the test date started approaching. This made me nervous simply because the last time I wrote a test or exam was in 2013! So I decided to take some extra leave from work to focus on studying. The calculations for time value of money and tax did not scare me, but the theory for the regulation section was what I was afraid of.

The test came and went, and two weeks later the marks were released while I was at work. I was so ecstatic with the mark that I went into the exam the next week feeling positive about the outcome. In the end I did really well, which made me realise that I had nothing to be afraid of as I had found a way to balance work and studying.

*Celeste’s blog will be updated as she continues his journey throughout the year continues.

The USB has a range of online postgraduate diplomas, including a postgraduate diploma in Nigeria or a postgraduate diploma in Kenya, offered through the University of Stellenbosch Business School. Other options include:

• USB’s postgraduate diploma in Namibia
• USB’s postgraduate diploma in Botswana
• USB’s postgraduate diploma in Zimbabwe