“I cannot do it, that’s how I was raised, Oom,” she replied to this author’s plea to address him by his first name. It’s a definite refusal from the legendary 17-year-old sitting across from me on the North-West University’s campus in Potchefstroom, worlds away from the community of Great Brak River in the Western Cape, about 10 km northeast of Mossel Bay.

Where drugs, alcohol abuse and violent crime were part of 17-year-old Dueliney Blokland’s daily life. Where she has seen young people, like herself, surrender their lives to gangs, where hope eventually fades. Where she decided to persevere in her beliefs, shut out the outside world, and build her own future.

“It was particularly bad in my neighbourhood. I learned from an early age which situations to stay out of. I know how to stay out of trouble,” she says.

There’s that, and her hiding place was a wonderland of learning, reading and dreaming. “I’ve always been fanatical about learning. I read any book that I could find and spent a lot of time behind the books. I enjoyed not hanging out in the streets.”

ʼn Delicious romance novel is her favourite imaginative food and when it comes to learning ... well, she is the first pupil with an A average in 17 years at her school. It testifies to late nights and early mornings, schedules that were strictly followed and even her tests she worked out and wrote out repeatedly.

Her dedication earned her awards as a junior as well as senior dux pupil at Great Brak River Secondary School as well as two bursaries (merit and leadership) at the NWU. Now for the next step.

“I am enrolled at the Faculty of Education where I plan to specialise in Life Sciences. I have a passion for it, and I love it. I know what I’m capable of. I would like to complete my degree and then do my honours, M and D. My goal is to become a lecturer and researcher at the University.”

She is ready to start living her dream.

“I am very excited. I cannot wait to receive my books. The campus is beautiful. But it is so big. I’m scared I’ll get lost and come late for class.”

Yet her birthplace is not going to be far from her mind.

“I’m going to miss my mother and my brothers, but I’m ready to spread my wings and I’m looking forward to the new chapter in my life.

These are mother Schumanaine and brothers Zion (15), Liale (10) and Billian (4). “My mother is a very strong woman. She is a role model and my best friend. She is steadfast in her faith. She will go out of her way and do everything in her power to give us what we need. She is my rock and my greatest motivation. I would not be here today without her support.”

When she thinks of her brothers, her face lights up.

“Zion is not as quiet and reserved as I am. He writes very good essays and has a great imagination. Liale is a very precise person and does not like to be too social. He is very good at maths. Billian has a caring nature. He will always comfort you with a hug when you cry.”

She does not know where her father is or what he is doing.

Back to her mother. She is the one who saw Dueliney’s potential early on. Her mother took her to a nursery school at the age of four, but the teacher said it was too early. It was not necessary. She was going to be be behind the other children. Schumanaine decided that it was nonsense. She evaluated little Dueliney herself and sent her to primary school at the age of five.

“My mother’s defence was that a mother knows her children. I was never behind,” she says.

Now, at the tender age of 17, she is already a first year at the North-West University, purposeful and determined. Her former high school’s top achiever, highest average mark in almost two decades. No, she has never been behind.