Perseverance pays off in a PhD
VER the past 16 years, Mervin Chetty often stopped to think: why me? Financial constraints meant Chetty, 34, had to balance pursuing a BSc degree at the University of KwaZulu-Natal with running a tuck shop to help his family make ends meet.
“The tuck shop was opened to earn money for the day’s bread and milk,” said Chetty.
Those demands took its toll and the Phoenix resident eventually had to drop out of university.
“I enrolled in 2000 and did fairly well. But I started failing in the second year. Running a tuck shop is distracting. The shop had to open early and close late and customers would come at any time.”
He dropped out in 2004 in his third year of study.
In the six years that followed, Chetty worked seven days a week at the tuck shop to save up before finally, in 2010, returning to complete his third year.
“I was surprised they gave me all my credits. I thought I would have had to start again,” he said.
“Going back was difficult. All my friends had left and I didn’t know what to expect. I also didn’t know how I would cope academically. However, I was determined to complete what I had started.”
Against the odds, Chetty managed to complete that year with an impressive 86% average.
Two weeks ago, he was awarded his doctorate in computer science during UKZN’s graduation ceremonies.
“A PhD in computer science is difficult and technical. There was no guarantee I would finish once I started, but I knew deep down that I had the ability to achieve at this level.”
His performance in his final undergraduate year had secured him a scholarship for a BSc honours in computer science, which he completed in 2011.
He said: “I closed the tuck shop when I finished my masters because I got a job.”
UKZN funded his further studies.
For his masters, he wrote a research report addressing the issue of water scarcity in agriculture using computational techniques.
This led to him being named runner-up for the Theodor Stewart Medal in the annual Operations Research Society of South Africa student competition.
He furthered his masters research for his PhD with a dissertation titled “The Enhanced Best Performance Algorithm for Global Optimisation with Applications”.
Dr Chetty, as he is now known, is writing a book about his divorce while pursuing his honours degree.
“I asked myself: what did I do wrong for me to have gone through a divorce? I have spent the past few years seeking answers to the question.”
His ultimate aim is to own an IT company.