Durban — KwaZulu-Natal’s top matriculants who received nine distinctions said studying during load shedding was one of the hardest things in their final school year. The achievers said they had to study during the blackouts, but teachers and their family members were supportive.
Lindelani Mbonambi, 17, from Mevamhlophe High School in Empangeni, said he was excited by his results and did not know how to contain his happiness.
“I just want my mom to be shocked when she sees my results,” he said.
Lindelani said planning and studying every day was the key to his success. The support from his teachers was amazing as they dedicated themselves to helping pupils.
“We left school at 22h00 because of the programmes we had at school,” he said.
Lindelani said during load shedding everyone would light up their cellphones and the class would continue. He said he would be studying medicine this year but was still awaiting admission from universities he had applied to.
Darshan Naidu, 18, from Palmview Secondary School in Phoenix, Durban, said finishing matric marked the end of an era and he was excited about a new chapter of his life.
Matric was the toughest year for him but he believed it taught him a lot about himself, his resilience and his strength. He said he got to understand his place in the world.
Darshan said studying under load shedding and during the April floods was not easy as some of his loved ones were affected.
“I did nine subjects but preparation for matric exams starts in Grade 11 and just planning ahead helped me a lot.”
Darshan said it was all about one’s mindset, working hard and believing in oneself. He said that Covid-19 took a toll on him mentally. The adjustment to online learning and the return to contact learning was not easy. Darshan said he wanted to study engineering or actuarial science at the University of Cape Town.
Daniel Kreuzer, 18, from Durban High School, said his brother, who was among the 2022 top achievers, inspired him to study harder. He said his Grade 10 and Grade 11 marks were partially affected since he couldn’t focus during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Daniel said he was looking forward to furthering his studies and becoming a mechatronics engineer.
“It was a difficult adjustment that needed to be done. I struggled with most of it because I couldn’t really focus. I was spending most of my time in school and that was the time where I got to do my work,” Daniel said.
“However, with Covid-19 we had to learn from home and it was difficult for me to get used to that. My brother really helped me because we had a bet that somehow inspired me to study more,” he said.
Daily News