Young lecturer inspires
Kentse explores the mystery of human body
Kentse Mpolokeng’s humble beginnings in her Free State home town of Bethlehem shaped her hunger to succeed.
Today, at 26, she is the youngest lecturer at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
Mpolokeng is also UCT’s first black female lecturer in the human biology department.
“Being the first female black anatomy lecturer in human biology [at UCT] was scary at first, but I was prepared to face any challenges coming my way,” Mpolokeng recalls.
She attended public schools and said that did not deter her from achieving academically.
“I did all my schooling at township schools and I matriculated with merit at Ntsu Secondary School.
“I wanted to be in the medical sciences but I was not admitted into the medical programme (MBChB) and I continued with BSc human biology and majored in anatomy at University of the Free Sate.”
She said she fell more in love with anatomy and started spending more time in the dissection hall.
“I got to discover the mystery that a human body is, and my lecturer then asked if I could assist in the department of basic medical sciences in preparing more models to be used for students studying anatomy. Some were going to be placed in preservation state in the anatomy museum for display.”
Mpolokeng, who was raised in a big family – three siblings, two cousins and grandparents – said she was always inspired by dedication and hard work shown by her parents.
“I remember when I was in Grade 3, my mom worked as a volunteer at a public primary healthcare clinic with no salary for almost three years and she was later employed by the district hospital.
“My father, who was in the mining sector, was always travelling around the country and we would only see him after three months.”
She said during her studies, her marks were not initially great but she kept pushing and as a result she eventually managed to get distinctions at honours level and graduated with Masters cum laude at UFS.
These days she works harder for her students to obtain good marks. “I do 20% teaching and 80% is dedicated to research and development. I am also giving practical sessions to the SA-Cuban medical students when they come to UCT.”
She said she sometimes gets weird and funny comments from some students, who often ask her if she is an assistant to the lecturer.