Tiaan Herbst is a BCom (Management Accounting) student at Akademia that lives out his passion for accounting by striving for his CIMA qualification. He spoke of how he chose to complete the qualification at Akademia in particular because it is built around the CIMA qualification. ‘After completing my studies, I would very much like to take the CIMA exam; Akademia not only makes that possible but also makes it easy,’ said Herbst.

In the back of his mind, he knew that if he wanted to take the route of financial accounting, doors would open for him because of having this degree at Akademia. He went on to say that management accountants must still understand accounting to succeed. ‘The degree provides a good overview of the world of accounting as a whole; at the same time, the primary focus remains management accounting. You still obtain knowledge of other fields, such as financial accounting,’ he said.

Herbst is an after-hour student, which means he has a full-time job and studies after work hours. He mentioned how beneficial this study model was to him and that he enjoyed applying his studies directly to his work practice. ‘I can literally see how the knowledge I gained in class is directly applied in practice. It is incredible.’

He chose Akademia as higher education institution for several reasons. First, seeing that the qualification paves the way to CIMA. He was also very impressed when he attended the open day because he could see there that mother tongue is a priority to Akademia. He said that his decision was also simplified by the fact that the institution provided a safe environment where no concerns were created concerning Covid-19 study suspensions.

The fact that Akademia is anchored in Christian values was the cherry on the cake to Herbst and guided his final decision for Akademia as higher education institution. ‘At the open day, the presenter started the events with scripture reading and prayer. After that, it was easy to make this institution my place of belonging concerning studies.’

He thoroughly enjoys his classes. ‘If I wonder about something, I can always send a message to my lecturers. It is nice for me to have the freedom to do that,’ said Herbst.

It stood out to him that the lecturers share theoretical and practical knowledge with the students. ‘The lecturers have a lot of academic knowledge, and most of them have been in practice. It is wonderful that the lecturers share that knowledge with the students.’ He recalled that Berrie Stroop was the lecturer for his first year financial accounting class. ‘Stroop regularly explained how the workplace looks and shared his practical experience with the class. As a student, this was of immeasurable worth to me.’

We wish Herbst a successful study journey for the remainder of his studies, and we look forward to seeing his success in the future.