YOUTH MONTH
This Youth Month, we're celebrating students who are driving positive change on campus, in their communities and beyond. Through their leadership, compassion and commitment, they are helping to build a better future for South Africa. These profiles highlight the impact and energy of a new generation of changemakers at Stellenbosch 肆客足球 (SU).
When Revando van Wyk, a third-year education student at SU, recently stood in front of a high school class, encouraging learners to believe in their ability to lead, it was not from a place of distant idealism. Just a few years earlier, he had walked a path few in that room could imagine. Caught up in drugs as a teenager in Malmesbury, he watched his brother fall victim to the same spiral. His brother's death became a devastating wake-up call.
“I felt lost and unworthy," Van Wyk describes his teenage years. “I attempted suicide more than once." Raised by a single mother who worked tirelessly to provide for him and his brother, he knew that if he didn't change course, he would break her. One day, staring at his reflection in the mirror, he took a decision that would change everything: “This isn't the end. I won't be a follower anymore. I'll lead," he told himself.
That decision – born not of confidence but of desperation – set Van Wyk on a path of deep transformation. He changed schools, found leadership opportunities, and slowly began rebuilding his life. Now a dynamic and respected student leader at SU, he is using his story to show others that healing is possible and that past mistakes should not determine their future.
'You can be the impact'
Van Wyk is currently Vice-Chairperson of the Education Student Committee at SU and assists fellow students facing academic challenges and navigating university life. It is a role he approaches with deep empathy and commitment.
Off campus, he collaborates with high schools on the West Coast, running leadership workshops for Representative Councils of Learners. He teaches public speaking, helps learners reflect on real-world issues and, most importantly, challenges them to believe in their own agency. “You don't need money or power to make an impact," he tells them. “You can be the impact."
Van Wyk also assists Grade 12 learners with university applications – something he once had to navigate entirely on his own. He recalls how overwhelming, confusing and lonely the process felt, and now works to ensure that others don't have to face the same struggle.
He wants young people to believe in the power of their own voices, Van Wyk says. “I want them to realise that no matter where you come from, no matter what you've been through, you can lead, and you can rise. My work is about planting seeds in young minds, showing them that leadership is not about titles; it's about courage. I remind them that they don't have to wait for someone else to come and save their community."
Carrying his story with pride
Van Wyk's leadership has never been flashy. On campus he is known as a thoughtful and humble role model. In addition to his mentoring and social impact work, last year SU's International Office presented him with a life-changing opportunity to travel to Italy. It was an experience he will never forget, Van Wyk says. “I always thought travelling overseas was only for certain people, but there I was, standing in another country, carrying my story with pride!"
Still, one of his proudest achievements is far more personal. He saved the money he earned from working in the International Office to install an indoor toilet for his family – a long-overdue upgrade from the outside toilet they had used for years. “It may sound small, but for us, it was huge. It meant dignity. It meant change."
Van Wyk is the first in his family to attend university, a milestone that carries both pride and pressure. When things get hard, he grounds himself in that legacy. “I say to myself: 'Onthou jou naam, Van Wyk.' ('Remember your name, Van Wyk.') It's a reminder of who I am, of the family I represent and of the legacy I want to leave behind."
He credits his mother, Lena Van Wyk, as his anchor. “Even when life got hard, when she had every reason to give up, she didn't," he says. “I carry her strength in everything I do. I'm also blessed with friends who constantly remind me of who I am and campus staff members who never tire of answering my questions and guiding me through every stage of this journey. Without them, I wouldn't be here."
Asked what advice he would give to other students who want to make a positive impact but don't know where to start, Van Wyk doesn't hesitate before he answers. “Don't wait for inspiration. Be the inspiration. You don't need to have all the answers. Just start asking the right questions, someone will point you in the right direction. And most importantly, don't take a 'no' as the end of the road. Let it shape you, not stop you. Your voice matters. Your story matters. And someone, somewhere, is waiting for you to rise so that they can believe they can too."
PHOTO: Stefan Els
GRAPHIC: Geola Bergman?
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