BOTSHELO MATHULOE A RISING STAR BEYOND THE HORIZON

BOTSHELO MATHULOE 

A RISING STAR BEYOND THE HORIZON 

I Have Conquered!

The revolutionary Soweto uprising of 1976 was embodied by thousands of school children who flooded the streets of Soweto, as they lamented and fought against the oppression inflicted on them, when the Afrikaans language was introduced to them as the medium of instruction in local schools.
Their response led to continous protests against this ruling, this did not only show the resilience and power that young people have but it also portrayed the immense struggle that young people face in a structured system of inequality.

Here we are today 44 years later faced with different challenges that still erupts from inequality of a structured system, that somewhat deprives many impoverished young people in our society.

As we gear up for our National Youth Month celebrations, we are confident that the struggles will not keep us down instead we will continue to rise above them in all adversities.
One of South Africa's young women Botshelo Bridget Mathuloe is the epitome of how our current state of growth as young people looks like.

Botshelo Bridget Mathuloe (21) years of age, born and bred in Tlhabane a township in the Platinum City of Rustenburg in the North West Province. 
She is the youngest amongst her mother's five daughters.   She was raised by a single mother since their  father passed away when she was only 2 years of age. 
Botshelo mentioned that  her mother worked extremely hard as a clearner to make sure that her and her older sisters get everything they needed growing up.

Her older sisters then took the initiative to assist their mother in taking care of the household as they became employed.
Botshelo matriculated at President Mangope Technical High School in 2017, she then decided to take a gap year in 2018 as she was still confused in terms of deciding on which career path to follow. 
She further stated that during the gap year she invested her time in doing a series of research, to establish a well informed decision.  She, like many other young people tried by all means to register with different Universities and lucky enough in 2019 she registered with the University of South Africa to study Public Relations.

Her love for modeling began in Nursery School when she started competing in different beauty peagants.
"I had always wanted to do it but I did not know where to start and with who"
"I remember in 2012 on my birthday a friend of mine (Omphemetse Pooe) told me she had a present for me.  I was wondering what it was because I expected to see a gift bag but all I saw was an A4 paper that she hid behind her, she showed it to me and to my surprise it was a Modeling Class Quotation.  That was the best birthday present I have ever received in my entire life"

Botshelo was extremely happy, that she took it home and they both began attending the classes together.  As time went by they somehow got discouraged by silly things and stopped attending the classes.
"I will always have the love for Modeling and pageantry at heart"

It was not an easy road Botshelo reiterated but I never gave up on my dream. In her journey of modelling she experienced alot of challenges one of which she mentioned was being scammed twice, this ordeal broke her and at the same time it opened her eyes as to what she should look out for in the future.

This was one the reasons why she entered for Miss South Africa because she believes that she is able to lead and empower both young and old women of South Africa, by making them aware of the power that they possess in order to reach their goals.

"I know that despite where I come from, my confidence can encourage women to step out of their comfort zone and demolish all the criticism and negativity inflicted on them"

"Taking everything to God in prayer was the first thing that I did, then believing in myself followed"
"I strongly believe that self affirmations contribute alot in one's confidence. Other people's opinions may either build or break us, I choose to go with the positive and turn the negative into stepping stones"

Botshelo is a born again Christian and a God fearing young woman. In her own words she would say "Her friendship with God is a solid one"
"He is my bestfriend, He knows everything about me the good and the bad but He still loves me the same.  I take everything to Him in prayer, it doesn't matter whether I am walking in the streets alone or what, if I feel the need to talk to Him I do"
"I obey Him at all times, happy or sad ,for Jesus said in the book of John 15 verse 14 and 16:
¹⁴You are My friends if you do whatever I command you
¹⁶You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Following His commandments makes me His good friend, with that being said
When I ask for anything I need from Him He deliveres.

As a young woman Botshelo firmly believes that Women Empowerment is quite imperative and plays a vital role in our daily lives.
"Empowering other women helps them to get out of their comfort zone and access opportunities that are facing them without any limitations and restricting themselves"

Botshelo further mentioned that encouraging women especially young women to follow their dreams and take  those risks and re-define gender roles in the society should be implemented by all means possible.  She believes that following solely in her dreams can be a step into  empowering the next woman or more.

"I believe that we have to focus on empowering both young girls and boys. Parents need to teach their children from a very young age the importance of respecting one another and to value each others decisions in life"
"A father should teach his son to respect a woman' s decision, if she says No she means it and you have to respect that, they should be trained to be the agents of change"

"Mothers raising their sons alone should also educate their sons about this, Teachers should also share vital nformation in schools with pupils and encourage girls to speak out!  It should be compulsory in all schools across all borders of the world"

Botshelo is also doing her part in helping the disadvantaged communities.  She is currently a volunteer at Peeletso Sechabeng Development where she assists in setting up food gardens and using her expertise in her field of study to get funding and assistance from the government and other private donors.  The aim of this initiative by Peeletso Sechabeng Development is to help communities to grow their own food and vegetable gardens in order to sustain a healthy living environment and to grow the economy in agriculture.

In conclusion this bright young woman is destined for greater avenues in life. It is young people like Botshelo who give the nation and young people as a whole hope that despite all adversities that life throws at us we can achieve anything we set our minds to, it is attainable.

For more on what Botshelo is currently busy with follow her on her social media handles.

Instagram : botshelo_mathuloe
Facebook : Botshelo Mathuloe
Twitter      : Botshelo_10

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