A 32-year-old man named Sisa Pazi has set a record as one of the youngest holders of a Ph.D. in Mathematics at Nelson Mandela University after earning his doctoral degree in Mathematics.

Sisa obtained his doctorate degree in Mathematical Statistics at Nelson Mandela University in South Africa. Achieveing the academic feat was not an easy one for him as he went through a lot of challenges since he was seven years old.

He lost his mother away when he was seven years old and then went to live with his grandmother, who at the time had no source of income, and was taking care of five grandchildren according to Women Power Africa.

However, Sisa defied all odds against him t become a successful academia. “It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. I understand this quote very well as my grandmother primarily relied on alms to put food on the table,” Sisa said.

”It gives me great pleasure, however, to say that despite the difficulties, not a single day have I ever gone to bed hungry,” he added. Sisa bagged his bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics with honors at Nelson Mandela University.

Due to his family’s financial circumstances, Sisa had to work part-time while pursuing his bachelor’s degree. Additionally, he completed his master’s degree in Mathematical Statistics while maintaining a permanent position as a Statistics Lecturer at Nelson Mandela University.

After he graduated with his master’s degree, Sisa registered for his doctorate part-time as he was working full-time fending for his family in 2018. Now, he has graduated with a PhD in Mathematical Statistics from Nelson Mandela University.

He also made history as one of Nelson Mandela University’s youngest mathematics PhD holders in the university’s history. Sisa is currently a Customer Experience Insights Manager at Momentum Health Solutions, South Africa.