Kegaugetswe Pinky Motsomi, graduate of leading tertiary institution, Monash South Africa, is a firm believer in her personal ethos that where a person comes from does not necessarily define where they are going. Furthermore, she is a shining example of her faith in the fact that “it is never too late to do something great”, and this is best evidenced by her recent achievement of an Honours degree in Public Health.
“Growing up in Morwa Village, Botswana, both my parents were diagnosed with life modification diseases. As a result of this I always wanted to be a medical doctor, but because the opportunity to pursue this path was never afforded to me, I elected to study public health with the hope of entering medicine in the future,” explains Motsomi.
She goes on to add that in the Motsomi family, it is believed that school only ends when life is drawing to a close. This is a motto that Motsomi has surely taken to heart, especially when one considers that her journey at Monash South Africa began with a Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Development, as well as Criminology and that in addition to her Honours Degree she added a Postgraduate Diploma in Management (HIV/AIDS and Health) to her list of credentials. This means that Motsomi has applied herself in two areas of study, with her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees being completed at the Monash School of Social Sciences and School of Health Sciences respectively.
Monash South Africa was always on Motsomi’s radar and she says, “I was well aware that Monash is a prestigious university and when it came to my attention that students from this institution were head-hunted I decided that I too wanted the same opportunity to prove myself. When I was approached at the youth desk where I worked as a deputy president in my community and given the opportunity to apply, I knew my life was about to change.”
It would seem that in the case of Kegaugetswe Pinky Motsomi, her parents’ teachings that education is a powerful weapon that can change the world are indeed true. Currently, Motsomi is publishing her thesis paper and that which she learned in her honours year at Monash South Africa is playing a large part in her manuscript. In addition, she has recently secured the position of provincial co-ordinator for non-profit organisation, Right To Care, which builds public and private capacity to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS.