As South Africans prepare to celebrate Youth Day on 16 June, it is important to take stock of how far the country has come and how far it still has to go. In her message to the campus community, Prof Linda du Plessis, acting rector of the North-West University’s (NWU) campus in Vanderbijlpark, focuses on the importance of choice and more so about making the right choices.

If you only think of board games in terms of time well spent with family and friends, roll the dice again. Board games and their development play a vital role in how the new generation of learners, the so-called millennials, learn and acquire new information and skills.

One cannot help but wonder whether Yolanda Fourie knew in her matric year at the Transvalia High School what was lying ahead in her future. Did she ever while working as florist among the flowers, think about where she would blossom one day? Did it cross her mind that one day she would stand on a stage at a North-West University (NWU) graduation ceremony as top achiever?

A proud Remilkun Iyabo Adeyemi was awarded her PhD in English at the recent Autumn Graduation on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark.

The North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark proudly awarded a PhD in English to Manuela Fernandes-Martins, academic developer at the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), during the recent Autumn Graduation.

“The North-West University (NWU) is committed to producing professionals to assume advanced careers within academia. Our postgraduate students will be the research leaders, faculty, and professional practitioners of tomorrow and as such the stewards of the university’s ethos of innovative learning and teaching and cutting-edge research.”

Three 11-year old youngsters from Vanderbijlpark – Izabelle Bothma, Ewald Harmse and Wilmar Pretorius – designed a robot that will be able to assist rescuers in finding individuals trapped under snow. Their ingenuity earned them the Innovation Award at the recent Robotics World Championships.

Members of the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus community in Vanderbijlpark are opening their hearts to assist victims of the devastating fires in the Southern Cape.

The second South African Symposium on Teacher Education for Inclusion was recently hosted by the Optentia research focus area on the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark and the Faculty of Education Sciences on the NWU’s campus in Potchefstroom.

If you thought that beauty pageants were just about high fashion and desirability, you have another thing coming. At the North-West University’s (NWU’s) campus in Vanderbijlpark the annual Miss and Mr NWU Vaal pageant represents a celebration of confidence, charisma and talent.