Congratulations are in order as DJ, producer, and music maestro Cleopas "DJ Cleo' Monyepao has completed his Bachelor of Arts Degree at Wits University. It took him a grueling three years of balancing music, family and business, but he finally made it.?

DIVORCE AND MONEY MATTERS

The Ndiya Ndiya hitmaker tells ZiMoja that being a student in his 40s was one of the toughest things he has had to do. "It was a very difficult time, but I soldiered on,' he says. "I was balancing studying while going through a divorce mid-degree and also working through the COVID-19 pandemic and its challenges,' he says. " I struggled with paying for fees due to the pandemic and I lost a big chunk of my income. All the available funds had to be redirected to sudden emergencies and other areas.' He says his divorce affected his marks. "I kept my mental state solid, although at some point I was depressed. I had to keep going and get myself out of it. In fact, my marks suffered the most in 2021, especially six months after my divorce,' he adds.

A BALANCING ACT

He says the three years were a balancing act. "It was a serious imbalance, one always suffered, always. Now I'm free to go chase a Grammy.' Cleo was never bothered about being the eldest in his class. "It was a wonderful experience,' he says. "I learned a lot from it, although, making conversation was often a challenge due to the age gap and maturity levels, but I tried to stay open-minded.' He adds that some of the younger students learned a thing or two from his decades of being in the music industry. "Well, the smart ones learned, I even saw them at graduation. The others… shame, I don't know,' he jokes.?

MAKING FRIENDS?

Cleo went to register three years ago with his eldest child, who was very supportive of his decision of going back to school. "She was with me even when I went to register. So she sees that I mean business and that inspired her,' he says. When he first entered the class, he says it was awkward when the students could recognise who he was. "Many of them laughed at me. I don't know why and it still puzzles me to this day, even at graduation there was a bunch that laughed when they saw me in my gown,' he says. But once he was acquainted with everyone, he had two close friends in the class and one lecturer who had taken to some of his events to get a feel of the "real world. It was a pleasant experience,' he says. Before this, DJ Cleo studied Sound Engineering in the year 2000 and enrolled at Wits University to do a short course in property investment in 2019 and later decided to do a BA degree in business management.