The students’ president

Rivaldo Kavanga Twenty-three-year-old Lucia Ndishishi was recently elected as the University of Namibia’s (Unam) student representative council (SRC) president for all 12 of its campuses across Namibia. Ndishishi is a paralegal graduate and currently a third-year law student. She started off her leadership journey at Unam by becoming part of the law students’ council as the secretary for academic affairs. In 2019, she became the vice chairperson of the council and in the same year, she became the SRC secretary for external affairs. Halfway through the year, she became the acting secretary-general. Last year was mammoth for Ndishishi as she also served as the speaker of parliament before becoming the SRC president. “I am a planner; I like to plan things out and I am very intentional with the things I do, and so I like to prepare and grow into things that I want to do in terms of long-term goals,” she said.According to her, she always surrounds herself with leaders, asks them question on how it is like being a leader, what challenges they face and how they run their offices. In addition to this, she also takes up leadership positions to understand the different functions of being a leader. “I invested in myself by taking up roles and learning from a tender stage of leadership.” Goals“I cannot exactly disclose what my plans for my tenure are, but I can tell you of some of the goals I have.” “As I am in charge of 12 campuses, I have to remain cognisant of the various differences that each campus has, and the different expectations that they have of me,” Ndishishi stated. Her goals include ensuring the decentralisation of Unam resources and services.ChallengesShe said being a woman and running for president was a challenge she faced in 2021 as people believe they can’t be led by a woman. “Gender should not define you or your strengths and qualities.“To any little girl who has dreams of one day becoming president, believe in yourself and work very hard. You are not entitled to a number of things in life, so do not hold yourself back simply because you are a girl,” she said.Fun facts about Ndishishi:Fulfilling her dream of becoming an admitted legal practitioner of the High Court is what keeps her going on days when she feels like giving up.“If I was to win the lottery today, the first thing I would do is invest in starting a project for the bettering of childhood development programmes and sporting centres for underprivileged children.”Something many people do not know about her is that she has a very creative side - she loves to draw and write.When she was grade nine, she wanted to be a doctor, but she is absolutely terrible at mathematics, so that dream died and she was crushed. “In terms of movie genres, I enjoy comedy more than romance.”Her favourite painter when she was younger was Leonardo da Vinci, because she loved the Mona Lisa.Her very first pet was a dog and she named him Friday, because he was born on a Friday.An embarrassing moment from a holiday was when she was in matric and went to Germany and her suitcase with all her clothes got lost. It was not pretty.“I can sing and I also know how to read choral music.”Her comfort food is seafood, especially crayfish.

The students’ president

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Republikein 2025-04-09

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The students’ president

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Republikein 2025-04-09

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