Prof Hester C. Klopper reflects on her first year as Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of the Free State (UFS), describing the period as transformative. The article focuses on her personal assessment of progress made during her initial term, outlining themes from her leadership during the year. It presents her reflections on how the university has been managed and where attention has been directed, while also framing the year as a foundation for ongoing work. The piece is positioned as an extended reflection rather than a report of specific incidents, and it emphasizes her perspective on developments within UFS over the first twelve months of her tenure. No other sources are provided in the prompt, so the summary is based solely on this article’s stated focus on Klopper’s first-year reflections. The coverage does not provide quantified outcomes or third-party verification within the supplied text, but it portrays the year as a period of change and consolidation under her leadership.