The Youngest Tertiary Institution Principal

MOTHUSI JOWAWA
Correspondent | Monday September 6, 2010 00:00

 

Neo Tlhaselo, a 25-year-old young thriving woman armed with an Advanced Diploma in Business Management and Public Relations, is a living testimony of brains hard at work with amazing benefits as the end results.

'I consider myself as an opportunist who is not influenced by the immediate benefits of my choice but rather driven by the long term vision of what can be the maximum benefit to last a lifetime. My priorities are set somewhere and that is where I am focused and believe I am on track to achieve those goals,' the youthful and highly assertive Tlhaselo said during an interview in her office at BBS Mall in Gaborone. The former Communications and Marketing Manager of Gaborone Institute of Professional Studies (GIPS) has since been engaged by Ba Isago-City Campus to head the BBS Campus as the principal.

Tlhaselo's academic journey started in Gaborone for primary school, then Ramotswa for Junior Certificate and back to the city for her BGCSE and after completing in 2002, she pursued her passion in a business qualification with GIPS, as a self sponsored student. She says that her greatest motivator in life has been her grandmother who always encouraged her to try out different opportunities that existed in both academics and non-academics in order to get a direction in what she wanted to achieve at the end of the day.

'Ever since then, my ardour for business surpassed anything else that I could think of and the fact that I was always considered for leadership positions my whole academic voyage, was a good sign that I had leadership skills, which I explored further into my professional career. This has allowed for my growth as an individual and I am proud to say that I have achieved more than most of my colleagues I went to school with,' she added.

The big catch for her as she hops between managerial opportunities in the professional scope is to gain the relevant skills needed for one to successfully run their own business. She has previously worked for Bimbos head office as an Assistant Manager, Bank of Baroda as a Business Development and Marketing Manager as well as GIPS. As one of the high achievers from her class, she got her first job with GIPS as an Administrator and rose through the ranks in a space of three and half years.

'Most of us do not have set goals of what we want to achieve after graduating. The routine is usually to graduate, get a job and no other plan beyond that. The other thing is that we tend to miss a lot of experience opportunities in pursuit of high paying jobs, which do not come easy. Money becomes a priority and it tends to cloud our decision making,' Tlhaselo advises her peers not to take money as a factor, but rather use it as a learning environment to cultivate their confidence and growth.