Johannesburg - Laughter proved to be the best medicine for a Vereeniging Class of 2021 matriculant who said her classmates' jokes got her through the stress of Grade 12.
The Class of 2021 was faced with the unprecedented task of having to experience their final two years of schooling under a dark cloud of the Covid-19 pandemic. Kyler Koetz from Phoenix High School told The Star that her matric year was a difficult one.
She obtained three distinctions in Afrikaans (first additional language), life orientation and business studies.
She said the Grade 12s attended school full-time while other grades used a rotational timetable. The matriculant added that her year was most consumed by school work as she also attended extra lessons on the weekends as well.
“I was tired most of the year, but I told myself that this was the last year and I had to do my best, and I just needed to push through,” she said.
Koetz said one of the biggest challenges for her was the pressure she received from her parents, family and her school to succeed.
“If it wasn’t for the other kids at school making jokes and making us laugh, I don’t think I would have made it through the year,” Koetz said. “It was having a support structure and group and knowing that I wasn’t alone with all the stress that made a big difference.”
She said that her December holidays also made a difference as she could finally spend proper time with her family and relax before university started.
She, however, added that when she looked back at 2021, she realised that it wasn’t as bad as she made it out to be.
She said she was accepted at Rhodes University in Makhanda to obtain a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree. She added that she had aspirations to join healthcare workers by venturing into medicine.
“I want specifically to get into dermatology because I’ve always been interested in what those kinds of doctors do. It really intrigues me. I want a lot of YouTube videos featuring dermatologists, and they really inspire me,” she said.
Koetz has urged the Matric Class of 2022 to start pushing and working hard from the beginning of the year.
“Don’t start too late and don’t think that you have time before the prelims and finals because as soon as you get there, it gets very difficult. Hustle now and push now because, at the end of the year, when you get your results, that’s what you were working towards,” she said.
The Star