AMANDA TSHABALALA IN MODE OF RESISTANCE TO FAILURE

Author: Liyema Mantshongo

Photo: Facebook

Amanda Tshabalala virtually graduated on Thursday with her Diploma of Financial Accounting in ELMI East London, a private college and university located in East London.

Amanda who's today is a proud self haven't had it any easier to make it to the top. As a women who fell pregnant at 17, nobody from her community thought she would amount for any good news like what she gave us on Thursday. As a result even in a school hostel where she lived was chased away because if you were pregnant you had to go home and had to leave the school in March, the month of delivery of her baby. Her pregnancy didn't mean her dreams won't come through, the same year of delivery she enrolled to SAA(South African Academy) that now not longer operates in Queenstown to finish off her grade 11 and 12. At the time of her high schooling she was a science learner and her ability to be a top academic learner was inspired by her competitive sense. After her matric year in 2017, she enrolled in ELMI East London where she chose rather a contradictory occupation compared to her subjects. She was very passionate about nursing but growing up the 'Tengane and Tshabalala Accountants and Auditors' empire had to take the front seat. On her choice of career she kindly followed her mother's steps to a world of Accountancy as her mom holds a degree in Business Accounting and has been on the industry for a whole wooping seven years as a practitioner. Her mother is in partnership with Mr Tengane who is a Tax Practitioner and their offices are just opposite Protea Spar. Amanda is currently working as a junior bookkeeper in the company helping her mother to handle business at controllable rate as she has extended the business to the branch at Gcuwa. Amanda has learnt a lot from her mother about ins and outs of the Accounting world and has been exposed to even more broader content than what she read at school and she realised that she's so good with numbers.

Getting this diploma wasn't an easy journey for her as her mother was hospitalised for three months after being involved in a car accident last year on 13 July. She couldn't cope well at school and had to do supplementaries for other minor modules of hers because for three months she had to travel back and forth from East London to Mtata where her mom was hospitalised. Short after her mom was discharged her grandmother from her dad's side died in October, the women who played a huge part in raising her. This passing happened right before the time of her final examination, this was the most heartbreaking point of her life but she kept going.

Amanda was very happy of people's response concerning her latest achievement and she couldn't be more appreciative. Amanda didn't strike herself as the model of inspiration until one 16 year old girl wanted her to be her to be her chicken mother and be her mentor of what it takes to achieve everything after experiencing teenage pregnancy that strikes as disrespect and disgust to parents' first point of view. Amanda's view on teenage pregnancy was that she don't merely normalise it nor promote but on her case, it was all caused by miscommunication between her and her parents. She believes that, "Girls reach the puberty stage at 12/13 and parents should let them know that during this stage they become sexually attracted to the opposite gender. Restrict them from practicing sexual acts as to prevent this issue with pure communication and verbal mode of information. Unfortunately for me I knew nothing and I fall under those people who do things in the dark and through dawn they show. Then my parents were on my case from that period but had to accept the child." Amanda also shared words of wisdom and motivation, "I don't know what to say because I can't say I was lucky because I was fortunate. I had such rough life but escaped that time. My word to young girls is to just not live life up to social media life status because it's bad. I'm a big fan of Facebook but it doesn't look good on my 13 year old younger sister who gets to read all those preferences that are not ready for her head. It is also a role of social media that most kids are not active in class because they are always glued on their phones and responding to trolls and beefs. I'm very glad that my life is very private for Facebook because I wouldn't clap back on such negative energy. The right thing to do is to just don't mind what people are saying or doing and focus on the goal you have set on your mind. I really don't know what to do to succeed but you have to not mind people and do your thing".

Amanda wishes to further her qualification to a degree which will be part-time of her schooling for a year since she already holds a diploma. She also wishes to work outside of her mom's business as to explore and then come back to take charge. Her brother who's doing grade 10 already fell in the industry of Accountancy as to join the empire.