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End 2011 Report:
My 3rd term of grade eleven was not a very exciting one. It went by so quickly that I don’t even remember half of the stuff that happened. For one, I was stressing myself out with the Choir Concert that was scheduled for after the exams (I had to do a solo! I had to sing a whole song on my own!). Now who wouldn’t get nervous at the thought of that? Well I had to suck it up and be brave for the sake of not ruining the whole evening.
I stood there in front of those people in the school hall and saw how everyone was staring at me and I started to sing… It went well throughout the first verse but then I couldn’t do it anymore, my nerves were hitting an all-time low. I started shaking and you could hear the quiver in my voice but I stuck with it even though my legs felt like jelly. I made it through that whole song. On my way home, my parents were telling me that I did the best out of all the girls that sang. I just laughed because they supported me. I was so happy after I sang. But only because all eyes weren’t on me anymore. I must admit I hate being in the spotlight, it puts me under a lot of pressure then I get extremely nervous but I’ll get over it especially if it’s something really important. That was just one of my adventures during the term.
Another adventure I had was job-shadowing with my friend Lauren during the September holidays. My mom organized it for me but I asked if Lauren could come too so I wouldn’t have to go alone and also because both Lauren and I are interested in health sciences. The job-shadowing was scheduled to take place at the University of Cape Town’s Medical School and we would be shadowing a Dr Nasiema Allie. Getting to the med school was a trip on its own because it’s all the way in Observatory and Lauren and I stay in Heathfield/ Retreat.
When we met Dr Allie we weren’t sure what to expect for those four hours that we were supposed to be spending there (from 9am - 1pm; trust me I was dead tired by the time the day was over). Then Dr Allie came to the reception desk and asked if we were the ones who would be job-shadowing her. She turned to out to be an Immunologist. The first thing she did when we got inside the building was go straight to her office and put down our bags by the desk. We were walking around for most of the day but it was so interesting.
We were inside Level 1 (you don’t need a lab coat or gloves to go in here) and Level 2 (you need to wear a lab coat and gloves to go in here) safety labs (not level 3 though because that would mean we would have to take off our clothes and be cleaned and have to put on those lab clothes with gloves and boots over our shoes and hair nets and masks and we didn’t have time enough to do all that). We got to sit in on one of their staff meetings; which was quite interesting. They were discussing an article on TB that was published in a magazine and why they thought it was published and how they should improve their articles so it too could get published in international magazines.
We got to see the where all the mice that are used for experimentation and the person in charge of the mice told us about how expensive it is to keep the mice because they have to be fed and cleaned and because the special cages they’re kept in cost a lot of money. We were asked questions too. He asked us if we agree to animals being used for testing. Lauren agreed. I told him that I am for it and against it. I agree because if we need to find cures for diseases and other ailments we can’t use human subjects because what if the person dies or has serious side effects, but if we use mice we can easily breed mice and they won’t go extinct that way. I’m against it because you have to think about the mice as well, what if those poor little mice suffer? It doesn’t seem right to harm them for our own gain.
After visiting the place where the animals are kept, Dr Allie took us to the Chris Barnard Memorial Hospital; we were taken to a place where some of the mice are tested for intelligence. They are put into a small vat of water and must find their way out. Apparently it’s not as it looks in cartoons and movies. We saw rats and mice of all colours and you could actually smell the rat/ mice pee and it didn’t smell very nice.
We then visited Dr Allie’s lab and she showed us how to make a PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction). If you have too little DNA and you want to create more you use a polymerase chain reaction to create more for experiment purposes, like if you’re trying to figure out who killed someone and you want to run a series of tests on evidence that you’ve found at the crime but it is too little to work with then you use a PCR. I think DNA Fingerprinting is unbelievably awesome. I find genetics interesting because in Life Science at school we were learning about it too. I must say that I enjoyed that day at the med school.
My fourth term of grade eleven has been quite an exciting one. It is also the most important term of my life… This is the term that determines whether I get into a university/ tertiary institution or not. It’s really nerve-wracking because 25% of my aggregate comes from my first, second and third term put together and the other 75% is third terms marks alone. I see why it’s the most important term now because if you haven’t done your best throughout the year now is the time to start a clean slate and work toward getting good marks.
To me, I’m just excited to get exams over and done with. I think exams are going really well but I’ll rather wait for my results before I get too happy.
In the beginning of the term I started to learn to play guitar. My best friend is teaching me. I can play a few chords and intros to a few songs. I’m really looking forward to the day I can play a whole song on guitar. I enjoy playing the guitar, there is something about it that makes me relax and just mess around with it.
I’ve realized that I have exactly three terms left of high school before my final examinations. It’s really a lot to take in. I have promised myself though, that I will do my best in matric and this term to get good results because I really want to study at a university. I really want to study, even though I’m still not sure what I want to study. I’m interested in so many different things that I’m finding it hard to decide. I like astronomy (would love to learn more about it), life and health sciences and at one point I was even interested in geology. I really don’t know what to do; I think I’m going to need to go for a career assessment to find out.
Speaking about career choices reminds me of my sister, Sharna. When she ended matric she was set on studying to become a pre-school teacher. Now after three years, she’s studying psychology. I really miss my sister. I hardly ever see her since she’s living with her father. It was her 21st on the 23rd of August (six days after my birthday). The last time I saw her was last week and I can’t even remember the last time I saw her before that.
I could talk to her about anything. Even though we used to fight but that’s what sisters do. I miss the fights and the talks and having a sister… But there are good things in my life too like my best friend and my family. So I will try and be happy with what I’ve got and not get sad over things that have happened in the past.
Right now my main focus is the exams. I need to this term’s marks to be good enough to go to a university of my choice. I’m really stressing about where I want to go though. I am going to put that stressing on hold and think about the lovely, long holiday coming up. I can’t wait! I’ll get to sleep again!
Thank you so much to the Kay Mason Foundation for everything you’ve done for me. You have really changed my life and helped not only me but my family as well. You have made such a big impact on my schooling career and I can’t even imagine how to thank you enough. And to all the donor’s out there who have helped us... THANK YOU SO MUCH! For all the help you’ve given to all of us scholars. None of this would have been possible without you.
Mid- 2011 Report:
My second term of grade eleven has certainly been quite a normal term. It went extremely quickly and I can’t seem to remember most of it because of all the studying and worrying about exams that’s happened for the past few weeks.
I enjoy my physics after-school classes because they’re always fun and interesting even though we’re working through at quite a fast pace. We always manage to finish all or most of the work in the time that we have (class is on a Tuesday after school from 15:00 – 16:00). I travel home from class with the train. I always make sure I have a friend with me or if I can’t I just hope nothing bad happens on my way home. I’ve been going on the train to school since primary school so I guess it’s quite familiar for me.
It's amazing how things have changed since I was in grade eight. I’m in grade eleven now and the work has definitely gotten harder as the years go by. Soon I’ll be in Matric and I’ll be stressing more than ever I suppose. I’m really nervous for next year. I'm wondering what it’ll be like then and if I’ll be able to handle the workload. Grade eleven is so much work, we get so much work that I’m tired when I get home. I can’t afford to be lazy. The teachers all say that the third term is the hardest because we have to finish the syllabus for grade eleven in order to start matric work in the fourth term. That means third term is almost like cramming two terms into one.
I love singing and always will but I won’t pursue it as a career. I want to go into a field that has something that involves Life Sciences in it. I just want to help “save” this world somehow. Like a superhero but in an actual, real-life kind of way.
I have recently taken a book out of the school library. The book is called Shadow Forest and the author is Matt Haig. It is quite an interesting book because it is science fiction. I enjoy romance novels, science fiction and anything that is fun to read. My favourite book is Alice in Wonderland. I really enjoy reading because it means different things to different people. I could mean a source of enjoyment to a person that is bored, comfort to someone who is lonely, and escape to a person who is having a hard time, or to students, a source of information to those looking for it. I love books! Especially big ones that will take me weeks to read, those are the best ones but it all depends on if it will capture my attention or not. My grade eleven set work book is Fahrenheit 451 and I’ve heard from a few people that they thought it was “boring”. I disagree, I found it quite interesting. Just shows you how different people think. And you can also find out which of the people don’t like to read. I don’t understand why anyone wouldn’t love to read.
I would just like to thank the Kay Mason Foundation staff and everyone that is involved. I am so grateful for everything you have done for me and my parents. You have done so much for me. Thank you so much!
WHO I AM:
My name is Francoise Carolyn Hector. I am a Grade 8 pupil at South Peninsula High School in Cape Town, South Africa. I have an older sister who is seventeen years old and in matric at South Peninsula High School too. I also have a younger brother, aged four.
I am part of the school choir, which is much fun.
My goal is to be one of the Top Ten students in Grade 8. I love to read. I have all the Harry Potter books and have read them at least three times already. I am also good at using the computer. My hobbies are reading, playing word and puzzle games, computer games, researching on the internet, walking my dogs and occasionally playing chess.
I am very grateful to Richard and the Kay Mason Foundation for the bursary they have given me. It has helped my family a lot knowing that my school fees are paid and I am receiving a good education.
LATEST NEWS:
The second term of High school was just as exciting and hard as the first. I am still part of the school choir and we are practicing a lot because of a show we will be doing in September.
My challenge academically this term was not Afrikaans but in fact Social Science. Most of the children didn’t understand the paper because it was another teacher who set the paper and not our usual teacher. Well, 49% isn’t so bad.
This term I received a 74% pass for the term, which is much better than last term.81% for English, 54% for Afrikaans,98% for Maths,82% for Natural Science, 90% for Life Orientation,72% for EMS and 83% for Arts and Culture. (These are some of my results for the term).
I was no. 6 on the list of 80% and above for Mathematics and I had the highest marks for Natural Science in my class. I am still working on my Afrikaans and want to get a least 60%.
I want to be one of the top 10 grades 8’s this year.
This holiday I will be reading (English and Afrikaans) books, visiting friends and family and doing homework (yes, I got homework for LO).
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