Durban - Kearsney College pupil Tim Bean faced one of the biggest challenges during his matric year - not having his family by his side.
His parents, Andy and Catherine, relocated to Mauritius so his father could take up a job at a golf course, and his siblings moved to Cape Town to pursue their tertiary education, leaving him to fend for himself.
Despite these challenges, Timothy managed to achieve seven distinctions and made the IEB Commendable Achievement list.
He now intends pursuing a BSocSc degree at UCT and would like to specialise in neuropsychology.
“It was a busy year for me. I had to take up a lot of responsibilities which helped me gain my independence.
“It was difficult because I did not have my parents’ support in terms of them being with me. But I understood my dad’s new job was a good opportunity. I visited them twice in the year and we Skyped each other every week.”
Carl Combrinck
Fellow Kearsney College pupil Carl Combrinck, who made the Outstanding Achievements list and also achieved seven distinctions, said he studied hard for the trial examinations which allowed him to focus on just revision for his finals.
“I decided that I would spend a lot more time studying for trials, which allowed me to not be so stressed during the finals, and I spent time mainly doing revision and previous exam papers, and refreshing my knowledge of what I had studied previously, which I found really helped me in my finals.
“There were times while studying that I felt overwhelmed but during the breaks I would go for a walk, swim or play computer games, which really helped.”
Combrinck intends to study computer science at UCT.
Naomi Maujean
The long hours of study for Naomi Maujean of Our Lady of Fatima Dominican Convent School in Durban North paid off as she also obtained seven distinctions.
Naomi said she would de-stress by playing touch rugby.
“I would normally go to church with my family, run or play touch rugby. In fact, touch rugby is one of my passions; I actually planned on going to the Rugby World Cup but gave it up just so I could study. It was hard, but worth it.”
She said she would be pursuing her dream of studying medicine at the University of Pretoria.
Timothy Sharrock
Timothy Sharrock from Ashton International College in Ballito will also be following his dream by studying medicine at Stellenbosch University. Timothy, who obtained seven distinctions, said his parents Mike and Andrea had been his biggest supporters over the years.
“I have always been passionate about medicine and helping people. My parents knew my love for science and always encouraged me to go for the gold. If I wanted to do an extra course they would gladly assist me in getting enrolled and always went out of their way.”
Jessica Lee
Jessica Lee of St Anne’s Diocesan College, who obtained seven distinctions, said that to cope with the matric workload she broke down her subjects into more manageable sections.
“It was a challenging year as there is understandably a lot of pressure to perform well. What I found effective was splitting every subject into sub-sections, and mastering that.
“I did face a few challenges, such as time constraints, as I was involved in many committees and projects.
“However, I coped by surrounding myself with people who would support me when I felt overwhelmed,” she said. She added that she intended studying business science at UCT.