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End 2011 Report:
I cannot believe it is the end of my grade 8 year already. These last two terms have been filled with excitement.
From the moment we came back to school after the short holidays, we had to work, work and work some more. Very important events were lined up for us for these last two terms. The exams, prize-giving and valedictory are few events scheduled for this period. As grade 8 learners, we didn’t really know what to expect of this ‘prize-giving’ everyone was talking about, so we were all pretty anxious to find out. It was a really surprising evening for me.
The choir started off with some of our songs to start off the long evening. I received an honours certificate, the award for the highest achievement in the grade, the award for the highest achievement in arts and culture, the award for the highest achievement in economics and management sciences, the award for the highest achievement in Afrikaans 1st additional language, the award for the highest achievement in Xhosa 2nd language and the award for the highest achievement in mathematics. This was all quite surprising considering the fact that I had to fight for my marks, but I guess that hard work does pay off.
I was elected the grade 8E class captain which was a huge surprise as many people in my class are not very fond of me. I must say that it was a great experience being the class captain, but also a challenge. I am comfortable with the fact that I had to be the leader, but it was hard convincing my class to do or take part in something as they did not respect me as their leader. I was faced with many mean and insulting comments and with many issues too, but I overcame them with no help from my vice.
Now that we are writing exams, I have to put on my thinking cap and work hard for the last few weeks of my grade 8 year.
The interhouse athletics was also a new and exciting experience. While cheering on the stands and watching the athletes run, I was called by the teachers to come and help them hand out food and things. It was a very tiring day but I really had loads of fun.
Our choir has been very busy too. We have been practising day in and day out for many concerts and performances. We even had the privilege to sing with SA Got Talent winner, James Benjy. I was also very happy to hear that I am in the choir next year as well, because we will be doing some travelling. We will be going to Pretoria at the beginning of the year and hopefully to Prague in Czech Republic in December next year. I am so excited and making sure I don’t worry about the costs just yet.
I think I grew as a person. I have become more confident and independent. I am ready to take on any challenges coming my way with God at my side. My challenges was definitely keeping my cool when it came to my peers, but I am slowly learning that it doesn’t matter what they say or think about me, because it’s just their opinions. I will rather be called the nerd than conform to their standards.
I cannot wait for exams to come to an end so that I can kick back, read a good book or rent a DVD and know that I have successfully made it through grade 8.
Bring it on grade 9!
Mid- 2011 Report:
Being at a girl’s school is not as bad as I thought. It is wonderful to be part of the “Rhenish Family”, because they treat you as if you were there for years. High school is, however a very big difference to Primary school and I am still trying to remember how to get to my different classes as I didn’t usually go to the teacher’s class, instead the teachers came to us. The grade 8 camp at the beginning of the term was filled with fun and many activities to get to know each other better. I really enjoyed myself.
It is also always very busy here at Rhenish. There is something for everyone to do, from the variety of sports, (such as netball and swimming) to different societies (like choir)
There were many highlights this term!
- The choir camp which was really awesome! Three days filled with eating, swimming, singing and fun!
- The 4M athletics was amazing because we sang so beautifully together while the athletes ran as fast as their legs could carry them and earned more than 150 points!
- The choir concert in the garden. This was a relaxing afternoon listening to Rhenish Primary, Paul Roos (the high school for boys) , our school’s orchestra and our choir perform.
I have done swimming, tennis and towards the end of the term I helped out as a reserve for the C and D U14 netball teams (as I didn’t make the trials due to transport problems) I have also been part of the grade eleven teaching programme. (A grade eleven teaches grade eights how to play sport.eg. soccer) I am also a member of the choir, which is very fun, but also tiring. We often come home at eleven in the evenings, because of concerts or performing. I am a proud member of the GLU committee. They are a Christian society who helps tell others about the work of God. When we voted for class captains, I came 3rd and I would hope to be a class captain next term. I would also love to receive a boffin badge which will only be handed out next term.
I have also waitressed at the grade 10 cansa dance, which was really fun.
Throughout the term I learnt the true meaning of hard work and listening to instructions. My end of term results were excellent, I think they were a direct reflection on what I put in this term, but there is always room for improvement. My mathematics, science and Arts and Culture marks surprised me the most. I received 100% for most of my maths tests, 90 and above for science and Arts and Culture. Most of my marks were between 85 and 95 except for English where my teacher gave me low marks for my orals, posters and essays. I did well with my English tests though. My class is very competitive, but I am glad that they are so because it makes me eager to work even harder. However, it does seem as if some girls have more privileges than we do. There are also very catty girls in my class who don’t like me, but I always remember the saying to ‘focus on the ball and not the player’ my first high school exams were very long and different to those I wrote last year. Last year we only wrote five subjects (English, maths, Afrikaans, natural science and social science), but this year we wrote all eleven subjects. I only finished on the 22 of June so we did not receive our reports. We are all waiting in anticipation to find out whether we passed or failed. I, personally enjoyed these exams.
My challenges for this term were definitely getting used to high school and the amount of work. I plan to just keep on working and put 110% into everything I do. My goal for the next term is to reach my full potential.
This first term felt like a wild rollercoaster ride that came to a sudden stop, leaving me wondering how it can be holidays so soon. The long awaited rest has finally come!! I plan on just relaxing this holiday by going out with family and friends, reading books, watching TV and resting.
This scholarship means everything to me, because the Kay Mason Foundation has given me the opportunity to be the best that I can be!
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