Ms Noni Kulati is the friendly face who welcomes, and cares for, SciMathUS students who live in the Rosenhof residence. With 106 students in her care, it is easy to see why sis Noni is considered as a mother figure among her flock.
“Yes, I am sort of like a mother to them,” she says. “The students mostly come from rural areas and townships and some of them have never even been away from home. So sometimes it can be a struggle adapting to such a culturally diverse environment as Stellenbosch University. My role is to guide them and to lift their morale and to make them feel at home.”
In her four years as residence head, she has seen it all. She says students sometimes try to bend the rules, especially when it comes to adhering to curfew times.
“But they know there are certain boundaries they cannot cross. I am friendly, but straightforward and If you are wrong, you are wrong. I am not afraid to make that known to them,” she says.
You too can help us build the next generation of South African professionals, visit https://matiesalumni.com/scimathus
#WomenOfSciMathUS #Womensmonth
