Help me register for my second year please🙏

Hi, I’m Liya, a second-year theoretical physics student at Stellenbosch University, and I need your help to stay in university.

I was born and raised in Delft, Cape Flats, Cape Town. Growing up, people expected me to fail… like my father, who struggled with alcohol. I love my dad, but I felt the pressure that I might end up the same. I was judged and underestimated by family, neighbors, and friends—but I stood strong. I prayed, worked hard, and promised myself I would make it.

I finished high school, topped my class, and became the first in my family to go to university. I got into Africa’s number one university for Civil Engineering at UCT. I was proud. I had achieved what I’d always wanted. I proved that your background doesn’t define your future.

But deep down, I always wanted physics. I wanted to become one of the few Black physicists in South Africa, contribute to science, and put our country on the map.

People told me physics “won’t get you anywhere” and advised me to study engineering instead. I listened, but from day one, I regretted it. The next ye...