"MISS INDEPENDENT"

In the Life of Kgothatso Monare

“Motivated, enthusiastic, hard working and a little miss independent” described by her friend Dianne, Kgothatso Monare known as K.G to her friends, is a nineteen year old who was raised in Pretoria by her single mother and her grandmother along side her extended family, and many friends, it was through the experiences she had then that she became the person she is now. “It takes a while for me to get along with people but once I get the swing of things and I have settled in, it is when the real me comes out.” Currently studying a Bcom Accounting, at Rhodes University, she has worked hard to get to where she is right now and one cant help but wonder how she made it thus far.

One of the most interesting and unique thing about her, is the combination of friends that she has. K.G has a story for most of her friends and how she came about becoming friends with them. In Pretoria, She introduces some of her closest friend. Lizo, a guy that she has known all of her life; Anna, known as Analyse, became friends in high school because they both like the same idol; “then there is Tshego”, she giggles and tries to explain what special quality she has, “my semi-blind friend that I had to walk because she couldn’t see when it rains because her glasses become fogy”; Thato known as tattoo, a very good friend that she met at metric higher grad class. “I have many other friends at home but these are the ones that I can really call friends” she goes on to say, “At Rhodes I have come across very interesting people and have made good friends with them. Dianne, Ashleigh, Shibu, Gugu, Nthabi, Kay, and the guys, these are my friends at Rhodes and I spend most of my time with them”, she explains.
“I know I can rely on my friends for entertainment and when I need a good laugh I know exactly where to go or who to call.” Although she has many friends, she doesn’t necessarily rely on any of them. “ I am very secretive and keep my business to myself most of the time, but since ‘no man is an island’, I do rely on my mother emotionally” she expresses while looking to the ground as a sign of salutation and showing respect, “I can talk to my mother about anything and she is also a friend so I can also talk to her on a friendship level, although at times she plays her motherly role, asking me about my grades even though I don’t want her to.” As her face starts to light up and glow, she looks up, with a big smile on her face she exclaims, “I love my mom”.

And unlike most children, K.G grew up without a father and suggests, “probably through the absence of my father, I realised that it does influence the way I view males and I also know that most guys see me as the ‘ice-queen’ but I don’t think my relationship with men is awful because my uncle was there for me” she tried making sense of what she was saying, staring at the ceiling while knocking the teddy on the bed. There is no doubt that she has gone through some hardships in her life but she refuses to let them stand in her way of achieving her goals.

Tertiary life comes with a lot of responsibility as well as pressure from peers but even though there are many influences that students come across during her first year at Rhodes, she has managed to stay herself throughout and is most likely to pass her first year with 1st grade passes. “I wanted to become a Charted Accountant since grade five after taking several aptitude tests that indicated that I was numerically inclined and since then I’ve been working hard to get to where I am right now.” She wants to be very rich and this is how her “miss independent” attitude was derived. Kgothatso serves as an inspiration to most of her friends and she will be the “miss independent” that Ne-yo sings about.