​​​​It is that time of the year when higher education institutions open their gateways to bright-eyed first year applicants. On Tuesday, 2 of January 2015 the University of Johannesburg (UJ) held its annual Orange Carpet breakfast at the Auckland Park Kingsway Campus. The Orange Carpet welcomes incoming newly matriculated and top achieving students from all over South Africa in prestige.

To kick-start their academic journey with UJ, the students received motivational words from the Vice-Chancellor and Principal Prof Ihron Rensburg who spoke about the University’s mission to enable students Be Anything You Want To Be. “The institution offers compelling academic programmes to inspire you and the community to transform and serve humanity through innovation and the collaborative pursuit of knowledge. Welcome,” said the VC.

While some of the prodigies made the University a first choice after seeing their family members become UJ graduates, some choose it for the world class approach in academics, and the inclusive and diverse atmosphere throughout the four campuses.

18 year old Leigh-Anne Bosch matriculated from Eldorado Park Secondary with five distinctions in Life Orientation, Geography, Mathematics, Life Sciences. Now a proud first year Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) student, Bosch was attracted by the prospective culture. “UJ stood out for me in the aspect of student life. I want to be part of the vibrancy and the academics,” she remarked.

Shandre Hoffmann a recipient of six distinctions from Alberton High School explains why she decided to join the orange planet. She noted: “I choose UJ because of the way they treated me when I wrote my NBT test here.” The young lady will be studying BA Psychology this year.