ROB KNOWLES
| BURSARY STUDENT: Angelique Kossolapov (right), last years' winner of a three-year fully-paid bursary, said she was really enjoying being at Stenden and learning the trade. With her was public relations and Grand Tour organiser, Lindy Thurgood Picture: ROB KNOWLES |
UNLIKE most teenagers with no clear idea of what they want to be when they get older, 19 year-old Angie Kossolapov has a plan and, with the three-year fully inclusive bursary awarded to her by Stenden in October last year, is on her way to fulfilling her dreams.
She began her first year studies at the end of January, at the start of the new academic year. Kossolapov said she was very excited to be at Stenden and had already learned a lot.
One of six short-listed candidates among hundreds who applied, Kossolapov made her way from her home in George to the Stenden Port Alfred campus in October last year in order to complete the selection process.
"We had interviews and shadowed the six international chefs at the Bathurst Country Affair. It was an awesome experience, and we worked through two very long days to complete the selection,” she said.
The bursary includes full tuition fees, plus accommodations and all necessary learning material and is offered annually by Stenden South Africa to successful applicants.
Having passed her matric examinations Kossolapov undertook a course at the Equalibria finishing school in Potchefstroom where she decided on a career in the hospitality industry At the school she learned life skills, self defence, home accounting and, "all the things school didn't teach us.”
As part of the course she had to compile a career portfolio and Kossolapov chose hospitality management.
"It was at this point that I realised I wanted to get into the hospitality industry. I worked in a hotel and learned all I could. Then a friend showed me that Stenden were offering bursaries, and I applied,” she said. The rest is history.
Kossolapov said the support of her two guardians, Zola Erasmus and Myrna Kuhn, who she lived with in her hometown of George following her parent's divorce, had been essential.
"Without their support I would not have been able to follow my dreams,” said Kossolapov.
"I like to organise and believe this to be one of my main strengths. People always need somewhere to stay, a home away from home, and that is what I'd like to be able to offer.”
She also enjoys the pressure of banquet management and would like to organise and coordinate social functions in the future.