Ntokozo Mthethwa.
Titled Conquering your years in tertiary education, the book highlights challenges at universities and offers how-to advice to move from high school to becoming successful students who can effectively cope with university life and transition to work life.
The book comprises three sections, the first being before the journey starts where students need to visualise their journey and set goals on how to achieve them. “I attended TUT’s annual Top Motlhabane Young Men Conference and I was amazed when Dr Victor Ramathesele spoke about having drawn the picture of his own goals which he visualised while in high school. Later in real life, during the prime years of his career, these goals played out in exactly that way. That made me realise the power of visualisation,” says Ntokozo (Ntkz@615 Mthethwa).
The second section covers the journey itself and addresses topics that advise how to draw up a plan to achieve your objectives and how to deal with peer pressure, to mention a few. The last section, which is the end of the journey, focuses on shaping your own future and entering the world of work. According to Ntokozo each topic and section starts with Words of Wisdom (WoW), which comprise a variety of smart African proverbs and quotes from other inspirational leaders and authors that he lives by.
The book has received many positive reviews. Some say it is a must read for anyone plans to enrol at a tertiary institution soon; some say parents should read the book; while others believe it should be added to the curriculum for Life Orientation, or Life Skills modules.
A broadcaster at a local radio station said this is a useful manual to follow if one wants to be successful at tertiary and in life in general. Another broadcaster hailed the author as very intelligent and focused on his ability to package the information and advice in an easy-to-read manner.
According to Ntokozo, who is an avid reader of a variety of books, but mainly business-related books, he drew inspiration for the book from his Operations Management Lecturer, Kelebogile Job Madiba, who kept on motivating him to share his experiences as well as teach and inspire other students. “The other inspiration was seeing most of the plans and goals I had set for myself before starting tertiary, coming to life,” he adds.
For now, the book is available only as hard copy by pre-ordering from Major K&N on telephone number: +27 72 041 9723.