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End 2011 Report:
Term 3 started off great, although I did not have much of a holiday as I was preparing for my orals and finishing off assignments. We started off with orals at school which I enjoyed. Then exams were coming up so that meant I had to prepare and work very hard because there were finals coming and the thought of finals made me nervous; this meant that the end of my high school career was near. This is when I realised that university for me was around the corner. We had summer school awards and I received a certificate for being a great leader for softball, and a trophy.
This term also had some fun things to do as the matrics had a Gatsby evening where we had to dress up as flappers or characters in the great Gatsby. We had finger food and we also had a lady come in to teach us a dance from the 1920’s so that we were able to dance to the music. Close to the end of the evening the teacher chose the top three girls who were best dressed according to those times and I got first prize!
The school celebrated its 140th birthday and it was my last one celebrated as a student here, which made me sad and happy at the same time: happy that it was my last time walking to the Cathedral and sad that I was not going to celebrate it as a St Cyprians girl in blue.
So the exams finished at the end of term three and what a breeze, but that was not the end of the exams because finals was coming up. I got so scared because reality was hitting and I saw my high school career flash before me.
My results for this term were not what I expected because I knew that I could have done better. So for me the upcoming finals were extremely important as they were the ones I could improve on and at the same time get into university; I am sure I will improve.
Term four started off very nicely because it started off with a matric dinner. Then a day after that we had our valedictory, this was an emotional and happy event at the same time because that was when most people realised that it was the end of our school life and the beginning of a new life at university.
The final stage of exams finally arrived. This was the moment of truth. Everything was put on hold and it was just eating, sleeping and books, and that is how the cycle went. I am glad to say the horrors of the exams are now behind me for this year. I get the results in January.
My plans for next year is to study Business Management as it will give me the knowledge and foundation to become my own business woman. I would like to thank you so much for everything and I don’t know how much I can thank you. Thank you for giving the opportunity to go to this school and to gain this education.
I wish you a happy Christmas and New Year.
Mid- 2011 Report:
The first term was an eye opener as I realised that I was in Matric now, and being in Matric meant that I had to be on my “A” game now at all the times, especially as the whole school was looking up to me because I was now in a position of a leader. In the fourth term last year the new grade twelves’ were allocated to be the new grade eight mentees of this year as it was going to be their first year in high school. Therefore, this year opened with the grade 8 and 12 dinner, just to get to know each other. Even though the term started with a positive start, it did not mean that it would end or continue with the same vibe. In the first term, we had about 20 things that needed to be done and submitted, excluding the tests that had to be taken. I was allocated as the Captain of Softball. Our school also hosted a career road talk show for grade 11s and 12s.
On 19 February, it was my Matric dance, which was so stressful because I had to rush everything from finding a date, dress, shoes, and jewellery, make my hair and so on. The biggest problem I had was financial, so I had to ask the foundation to assist me and they gladly helped me.
This term we had Inter-House Athletics. In our school, we have three different houses, Anderson, Darke and Verinder. This is fun because we have to compete with our friends and gain house points, but the points are gained by comparing entrances, cheerleading and performance. The school also had a bare foot day where almost everyone in our school was walking bare foot just to raise money for underprivileged children. The most exciting thing is that our school ended with the April’s fools Day which was a lot of fun.
In the second term nothing was very exciting because it was Exam time and that is never exciting to anyone. We had House Plays. Then we had a Africa day which is where every grade is given a team and they have to bring food, clothes and dances according to their theme.
LATEST NEWS:
The New York trip/ My time in New York:
On the 27th June until the 11th July 2010 I took part as a participant in the Face to Face / Faith to Faith programme. I heard about this program late in 2008 and I found it interesting, so I thought to myself “well why I shouldn’t apply for it. I mean it includes three things: first was getting the chance to go toNew Yorkand second was to learn more about my religion, moreover the third thing was that I was going to meet other people from three other regions.” At the end of October 2009 I submitted my application which included a lot of details about myself, but I guess that was the first step into this program. After handing in my form I was then told that the chosen person who would be going toNew Yorkwill be announced at the end of January 2010.
Therefore as days went by I was busy praying to get chosen, as there were many other students in my grade who had applied. I waited and waited. Then the Reverend Natalie, who is in charge of the South African home group, and who had interviewed me with her colleague for this program, came up to me and said “you got in, but I’m not sure yet, and don’t be sad if you don’t get it as there were many other applicants.” Late in January I received a letter from the Face to Face saying that I was accepted! At first I couldn’t believe it! This led me to ask some of my friends to read it over and over again. Before I went to bed I looked at the same letter which I had been looking at throughout the day, still not believing that I was really accepted. So when I woke up the next morning first thing I did was to look at that letter again to check that nothing had changed. Only then did I realize that I was really accepted, that morning.
What the Face to Face camp is: basically it brings teenagers from four different regions in the world:South Africa,Northern Ireland, Israel/Palestine and theUnited States(where this two-week summer intensive took place). We stayed at the Presbyterian Centre inHolmes,NY, which is about an hour away fromNew York city. On the first day when we arrived after a 16 hour flight, we were warmly welcomed by a very enthusiastic group of staff. Even though I felt that I was going to drop dead because of tiredness, I still had the energy to meet each and every one of them to introduce myself and at the same time give them hugs, which I found hard to do, because It felt like my arms were going to fall off, but at the end it paid off, because I didn’t have to carry my own bag to the cabin which I was introduced to by my two cabin councilors, Liz and Jill.
On the first week we werel introduced to the rules and regulations which we had to follow in order to make the whole stay there a good one. We learnt communication skill, which included intentional listening. During this activity one had to choose a person that they felt comfortable with in order to tell them a story which either was personal, or how they felt about their faith and how other people view them because of their faith. We then had a discussion on building relationships across differences; looking at our own faith and others can be inspiring for peacemaking; also challenging each other to become agents of change in our communities. We had other activities such as open spaces, paper bags, interfaith groups, moreover we had dialogue groups.
Open space was fun: what happened was there were about four to five circles with different topics, therefore one could join any of the circles which they thought was interesting. The topics were races, sexuality, democracy e.t.c I joined all three because we were given time to alternate and share our opinions at the same time with others. When I swapped to go the race topic I got soheated because the South African group was talking about Apartheid and how nowadays the black people are abusing the BEE system. I thought it was not entirely true, but there might be one or two people who are doing that. In that same topic tears were shared because no one wanted to understand or try to put themselves in other people’s shoes. Paper bag was an activity where there were about twelve to fourteen paper bags around the boat house and each of those paper bags had different words and phrases. After that we were told to go up to a paper bag and write our first thought on that particular word or phrase: for example when the word is ‘black’ what was your first thought on that word; when you see the word ‘feminist’ what is your first thought; and when you see the word ‘white’ what is your first thought, and so on. After the paper bag activity we went to our dialogue groups which consisted of two participants from each region, which in total was about eight to nine people. We had a debrief session where we shared our feelings about this activity.
The second week we learnt more about peace-making and what differences we were going to implement when we got back to our communities, and at the same time we learnt about intentional listening. We played games, we bonded and we discussed how we were going to keep in contact with each other when we got home.
Another point about the camp was that we didn’t have much meat, most of the time we ate vegetables … can you imagine. We only had meat at a braai which was once in every week. I didn’t mind that though because I was enjoying the bagels which I had every morning.
On the last Saturday, we decided that we would all stay up until Sunday so that we could all go and see the sunrise, which was amazing. After that we went for breakfast then we were told to go and pack so that we could see what spaces need to be cleaned. After getting ready the three regions started leaving one by one and this is when everyone broke into tears. The South African region was left there for one more night, due to the fact that we had different bookings. This day I cried myself to sleep. I couldn’t believe that it was over, it seemed like it was just yesterday when we all arrived.
The camp was beyond amazing. I believe that it has changed me in some way or another. I have become more aware of things that happen around me and around the country in which I live. This was an experience of a lifetime and I would encourage anyone to go and an experience they will keep when they return home.
I would like to thank the Faith to Faith staff for choosing me as their participant, and the Kay Mason Foundation, my parents and aunt for funding it. Moreover for all the people who were involved in making this trip possible for me, I don’t know how many times I can thank you.
2008:
This term has been a bit challenging for me because I have just started High School and my mentor’s name is Xola and she is a really nice person and I am so glad that I have settled in really nicely.
For English I did a play based on Shakespeare and I was really excited to do it and I was also looking forward to knowing more about Shakespeare, the name of the play which I did was “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. I did well in it, I got over 50% and I was so happy. I also did softball for the first time this year.
I went on camp in February. We went to the Palmiet River which was really exciting and I did abseiling for the first time as well as canoeing and First Aid. This camp was for English and I got 52%, which wasn’t that bad. I got a certificate and I was really proud of myself.
I think this term was really tough, but I am looking forward to next term.
Thank You to everyone who care and helps me in life.
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