Early school leaver now top university achiever

Either do nothing about it and struggle for life, or accept the challenge when you are more mature and restart studies to improve your skills and obtain the necessary qualifications for a proper career and better life?

Thie latter is exactly the choice early Marais Viljoen school leaver Louise Bierman has made, but later in life she even went two steps higher and in Dale Carnegie words to “Make lemonade from your lemon”.

Marie-Louise claims she was known as a rebel at school, and after several disciplinary hearings decided to leave school and work. Two years later she realised she would struggle without a matric certificate, and joined the night school at Marais Viljoen in 2012.

Marie-Louise made history when she became the first part-time student ever to obtain seven distinctions in one session for the National Senior Certificate at Marais Viljoen High School. She obtained an average of 86 per cent for the seven subjects.

Marie-Louise Bierman, who is now a third year law student at Potchefstroom University, has been honoured as one of the top 10 achievers at the university. She had an average of 75 per cent and also received an academic merit award. She studies LLB and at the prestige function of the law faculty this year, Marie-Louise was honoured because she ended among the top 10 achievers in her first and second year. She passed her second year LLB with 10 distinctions.

Her part-time school tutor Mr. Llewellyn Oosthuizen is very proud about what she achieved, saying: “This should be a great motivation for early school leavers, generally referred to as dropouts, never to give up hope.”