College of Economic & Management Sciences

A Unisa alumnus reaches the finals of Miss SA 2017

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It is that time of the year when the Miss South Africa Pageant for the year 2017 is building its momentum. A bevy of beauties, 12 to be precise, will be vying for the prestigious crown come Sunday 26 March 2017.

A Unisa alumnus is amongst the beauties. Yuta Raubenheimer, a BCOMM Business Management graduate, is already making her mark. The 25-year-old Yuta hails from Kameeldrift near Pretoria and her entering the pageant has been two pronged.

She says entering the pageant has been a part of her dreams since she can remember being a little girl and she never missed all the delight that goes with the pageant on a yearly basis. Yet, she sees part of her journey of self-discovery also being fulfilled as she says she is truly inspired by the community engagement projects that the girls embark on during the competition.

“These reflect on what I believe in as I love serving my country and contribute to community service and do charity work. I work with Reach for a Dream Foundation which is an NGO that fulfils the dreams of children of the ages between three and 18 who have been diagnosed with life threatening diseases.”  

Yuta says that she there was a point in her life while growing up that she was in and out of hospital due to illness and is inspired by what the NGO does to bring a smile on a child’s face. “The Reach for a Dream Foundation creates fun for children and they make things happen for them.”

Being on the pageant has come with a few compromises such as her career ambitions on pause for the time being. She has been employed as a customer service supervisor by Gautrain for the past six years and she was also promoted to a managerial position late last year but had to forgo that opportunity to concentrate on the pageant. She is grateful to her understanding employer for giving her the opportunity to be on the pageant fulltime.  

She studied through Unisa which she found to be easily accessible and affordable. “The institution made it possible for her to have the best of both worlds as she was able to earn a living at Gautrain and study part time. For the quality of education and flexibility offered by Unisa encourages me to register to study for an MBA in the future. I encourage any potential students to do the same. Study and earn a living all at the same time.”

For fun she does dancing, contemporary ballet, sh’bam, Zumba, advanced aerobics, Toastmasters and is her church’s worship team member. “The Miss South Africa Pageant is a once in a lifetime opportunity I am grabbing with both hands and enjoying every minute thereof. My motto is you can only go as far as your mind allows you to.”

TO VOTE FOR YUTA SMS 12 TO 45791

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Publish date: 2017-03-08 00:00:00.0

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