A Promise Kept for Cum Laude Graduate

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It was not confidence speaking when cum laude honours graduate Ms Shimyra Ouderajh first made that decision; it was survival.

A quiet promise formed in the middle of uncertainty, before achievement, before recognition, before distinctions gave shape to her academic identity. She describes her study, ‘Recontextualising AI-Supported and AI-Generated Instructional Practices in South African Foundation Phase Classrooms’, as an academic journey with benefits beyond academic achievement, fostering growth, resilience and self-belief.

Ouderajh grew up in a household where one income stretched across everything and where effort was never occasional - it was simply how life worked. Hard work, perseverance and sacrifice were not spoken about as lessons, but lived daily. 

Both her parents were once teachers, though they had left the profession before she was born. Still, she recalls that their respect for education never faded and, in their home, education was always treated as something serious - something worth holding onto even when circumstances were not easy.

But stability at home did not automatically translate into confidence within herself.

“I often doubted my ability and questioned whether I was truly capable of achieving more,” she admits. 

In secondary school, that doubt shaped much of her experience. “I lacked confidence and did not fully believe in myself,” Ouderajh explained. While others appeared to move forward with certainty, she often felt like she was still trying to catch up to her own potential.

That changed when she was accepted into the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). “It felt like a second chance, a new beginning and a space where I could redefine who I was and what I was capable of becoming.” 

She arrived with a simple internal commitment: “I am going to succeed.”

What followed was not an immediate transformation, but something quieter, being seen differently, sometimes for the first time. “Some even took a personal interest in helping me secure part-time work while I was studying,” she recalls of her lecturers. “That kind of mentorship left a lasting impact on me.”

Her academic efforts were recognised through several bursaries from UKZN’s financial support systems that helped ease the financial pressures of studying.

At home, the foundation remained steady. “My parents supported me in every way they could, not only financially, but emotionally and mentally. They encouraged me even when I was unsure of myself.” 

Her brother, too, became a constant presence, describing him as “someone I looked up to, steady, driven and supportive.” 

Their belief, she says, often carried her through moments when she could not yet carry herself.

Slowly, things began to shift. “With consistency, discipline, and a growing sense of self-belief, I began to transform academically.”

First came her undergraduate degree cum laude. Now her honours degree, also cum laude. “These achievements meant a great deal to me, not only because of the recognition, but because they reflected a shift from self-doubt to self-belief.”

She is now pursuing her master’s degree in Education, focusing on how teachers engage with AI-supported and AI-generated learning within the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) Foundation Phase classroom. “My work explores the intersection between innovation and curriculum expectations and how teachers play a central role in balancing both.” 

It is a space she describes as both complex and urgent, where classrooms are already changing in real time.

But her journey has not been without aftershocks. “Despite graduating with strong results, I have found it difficult to secure stable employment. It has been a humbling and sometimes frustrating experience.”

Still, she does not describe this as defeat. “Rather than discouraging me, this reality has strengthened my determination.”

Looking ahead, she hopes to become a lecturer and contribute meaningfully to educational technology. She is especially drawn to how technology can support learning ‘without losing the human connection that remains at the heart of education.’

When she reflects on her journey, she does not see a smooth line upward. She sees effort, doubt, persistence and gradual change. “Moments of doubt, moments of growth and moments where I chose to keep going.”

Words: Rakshika Sibran

Photograph: Supplied