This young woman just became the first student at Stellenbosch University to graduate with the help of SA Sign Language (SASL).
Ilze Aaron moved from a deaf environment to a world where everyone else could hear and while it was a big adjustment, she took the bull by the horns and emerged victorious.
Maties’ Disability Unit provided her with two SASL interpreters and other forms of support and on Monday Ilze graduated with a Bachelor in Education Foundation Phase degree.
The 24-year-old from Paarl had to take an interpreter with her to all her lectures and completed the four-year degree in five years.
Ilze, who is passionate about teaching and plans to teach at a deaf school, hopes she can inspire fellow deaf people to follow their dreams.
“I hope this makes people realise that deaf people can achieve anything,” she says.
“This is proof that no condition is limiting us from achieving our dreams. You can be blind and deaf but still achieve your dreams," says a proud Ilze.
“You can be in a wheelchair but still play for the best country’s basketball team, nothing will ever stop you from achieving your dreams. No matter who or what you are you can always rise above your circumstances
She adds: “In class, I would sit right in front (sometimes as many as 200 fellow students attended the lectures) and the interpreter would sit in front of me and observe what the lecturer presented in the class.
“It’s not easy to observe two people (the lecturer and the interpreter) at the same time. But after class, we would sit down to make sure I understood the work and that I hadn’t missed anything.”
She says they also tried video recording the lectures and eventually decided to use a note taker, because she couldn’t make notes while watching the interpreter.
As a child playing with her friends, Ilze would always pretend to be a teacher.
“My family tells me I’ve always wanted to be a teacher.”
She says it was teachers at her alma mater, De La Bat School, who encouraged and assisted her in applying at SU.
Vicki Fourie, a senior interpreter at the Language Centre who played a key role in the ground-breaking intervention, said the whole experience of working with Ilze was very uplifting.
“We would love to do the same for other students in the future,” she says.
Ilze is currently looking for a job and says: “My passion is teaching deaf learners so they can receive an education in their own language from another deaf person.”