Ebraim a student of distinction
Accounting whizz aces her degree
Rossana Ebraim has achieved distinctions for every single subject since she started her BCom accounting degree at the University of Johannesburg. The 22-year-old from Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, is set to graduate next month but is also completing her fifth year with a bridging certificate in theory of accounting (BCTA). “When I was first introduced to accounting I knew immediately that this is what I wanted to do,” she said. Ebraim said although she did well in high school she took maths literacy because she feared she wouldn’t pass pure maths at her under-resourced Willowmead Secondary School.
She also attained distinctions in all her matric subjects. “I went to a free public school … [and] we didn’t have access to a lot of subject choices.” She said UJ offers an option of a longer degree that allows students who want to study accounting to strengthen their maths in the first year to do so. “I chose the best degree for me; I am genuinely interested in it. If your heart is not in it you won’t do well,” she said. Ebraim said she has managed to achieve a 100% distinction record because she studies to learn and not to pass. “I study smart and not harder. I don’t count the hours I study but the quality,” she said. Ebraim said she was raised by her unemployed mother and has four older siblings. “My parents were married for a long time but my father was not very active,” she said. Ebraim said her family depended on her brother who found work as soon as he completed his matric.
“I am the first graduate and first degree holder in my family. They are extremely proud.” She said she applied for university in secret because she did not want them to stress
about how they were going to afford her fees.
“My family did not know I was applying for varsity because I did not want to get their hopes up,” Ebraim said. A bursary from the Gauteng treasury paid for her first four years.
She is now funded on merit from UJ and is looking for further funding for her final year. Senior lecturer in auditing at UJ Pranisha Rama described Ebraim as an “extremely hard-working and determined” student.