Emndeni born Dr. Lindiwe Tsope was recently announced as the first PhD graduate to have matriculated at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG). The 27-year-old said she was still taken aback by the attention the achievement has brought.
“I mean there are other ladies from the academy who are also working on their PhD’s, I just happened to be the first to get it so I was very surprised by the attention it has attracted. But it is a pleasant surprise I am very grateful for the messages and congratulations I have received,” she told Soweto Urban. Tsope’s story, however, begins in Emndeni at Luyolo Primary School.
As one of the top achievers during her Grade 6, she was selected as one of only eight learners to apply for entrance to the academy that would be opening the following year.
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From that eight, only two made the cut. “So our school had to choose eight top achievers that were going to apply and I was one of them. We went through a rigorous testing process and at the end of that, only two of us from Luyolo were accepted to attend the school,” she recalled.
Tsope admitted that at the time she was clueless on the significance of it all. “It was announced at an event in Midrand I think, and only then did it dawn on me that ‘wow!’. Seeing u Mam’ Oprah there and all the lights and screaming from the crowd. Then that is how it started,” she added. For a Sowetan girl, the hallways of the prestigious academy – her new home – felt like a different world. “
“The academy was beautiful. The rooms were spectacular. It looked more like a resort than a school. You have to understand, for a girl from Soweto and that environment and then to be thrown into that scene. It felt like a different planet, a life-changing experience. My entire time there was wonderful. I created lifelong bonds. We had to work really hard and it prepared us well for the next step of our lives.”
That next step was university. Tsope had long made up her mind that she would attend Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape. She registered for a BA in Journalism before opting to major in Psychology and Sociology.
She went on to complete her PhD studies last year and was conferred with her PhD in Sociology in May this year. Tsope’s victory was not at all an easy one, and the 27-Year-old admitted that she regularly had to be rescued by friends and loved ones.
“There were definitely times where it got very difficult, where I thought I would not be able to make it. You know the saying ‘it is lonely at the top’? That’s exactly what postgraduate studying is because you are alone. All your classmates moved on to different things and it’s just you and this course. You need the will, you need the discipline, but you also need the support of those around you,” she said.
Tsope extended her gratitude to the people who helped in the difficult times. “You certainly can’t do it without the support, so I want to thank my support structure. My supervisor, who simply would not let me quit. My friends and family for the constant phone calls encouraging me. I had mentors who were pushing me hard. I won’t even lie, I relied heavily on that motivation and those are the people who deserve the credit. Really, it took a village in the truest sense of the phrase,” she concluded.
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