When Nkosiyanele Mpofu ’30 thinks about where she comes from, she does not name just one place.

She was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa with her family when she was two weeks old. She grew up near Rustenburg, close to the Botswana border, speaking Tswana. After primary school, she returned to Zimbabwe for secondary school, where she reconnected with her Ndebele heritage and encountered Zulu. Later, at USAP Community School, she found herself in a predominantly Shona-speaking environment.

Moving between these environments shaped how she understood language, identity, and belonging. Although her classes were taught in English, everyday conversations often happened in the majority language, sometimes leaving students who did not speak it feeling excluded.

Mpofu knew that feeling. She describes herself as Ndebele by heritage, while recognizing that growing up speaking Tswana has shaped her relationship with the Ndebele language.

But moving between cultures also taught her something else: connection does not always require people to speak the same language.

Mpofu found one way to bridge those differences through dance.

Dance has been part of her family for years. She remembers watching her father dance when he was younger and later seeing her brother take up dancing. Eventually, she joined him.

At school, dance became a way for Mpofu to build friendships across cultural lines. She learned Congolese dances and connected with Congolese students. She also formed friendships with Shona-speaking students, even when language might otherwise have created distance.

“We dance together, and we see past political clashes, we see past rivalry through dance,” she says.

Now, as she begins her first year at Ashesi, she joins another diverse community, bringing with her an appreciation for the many cultures and languages that have shaped her.