Exams and Beyond…
By W Shange and L Magwaza
Recently we asked our boys how they are experiencing writing Control Tests and what were their future goals.
With COVID, this has certainly not been an easy year. We hope that what they shared as some of our top achieving academics and sportmen will inspire and assist others.
This is what some of them had to say…
James Le Roux
(3rd in 6th Form Term 1/ Academic Honours)
Who are you? /Tell me about yourself in one sentence.
Hi, my name is James Le Roux and I placed 3rd in Form 6 in Term 1.
To date, what is the most special academic achievement for you?
It was special for me when I placed 2nd in 3rd Form at the end of the year after placing 6th and/or 7th throughout that year.
What strength/s do you have and/or have obtained over time to help you perform as well as you do?
I think I have good time management skills and I work very hard and I don’t give up regardless of how difficult things get.
What weakness/es do you have that have stood in your way in terms of your performance at school, if any?
I think all of us suffer from procrastination from time to time and it does get us down, but overall, I think it’s important to just carry on going.
What academic goals have you set for yourself to help motivate you to do the best you possibly can do?
I’ve set myself the goal of becoming DUX at the end of this year and I’m doing all that I can to achieve this goal.
What steps have you put in place to achieve these goals?
At home, I’ve tried to create an environment which allows me to study to my full potential and at school, I try to do my best in every single task that I do in preparation for the build-up towards the Final Exams.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 years, I’m hoping to be completing the course that I’ll be studying: a BSE in Geology at TUKS (University of Pretoria).
What advice would you give to your peers during this exam time, be it on how to manage their exam stress, how to study more efficiently or anything that you would find being relevant advice?
At home, you need to have a good environment for learning, free from distraction and conducive to studying so you can prepare yourself well for exams and tests. And you also need to sacrifice some things in order to achieve your goals, and I think it’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and to continue playing sport and being active because it’s not all about the academics, as well as to maintain a good relationship with God.
Mark Laithwaite
(Deputy Head Prefect/9th in 6th Form Term 1/Academic Honours/First Team Tennis/First Team Cricket)
Who are you? /Tell us about yourself in one sentence.
My name is Mark Laithwaite. I am the Deputy Headboy of Maritzburg College as well as a Top Ten academic performer, 1st team cricket and 1st team tennis player.
To date, what is the most special academic achievement for you?
My most impressive academic achievement would be finishing 5th in form 5 last year.
What strength/s do you have and have learnt over time to help you perform as well as you do?
My time management is very good as I have a lot of things that I have to juggle. I work hard and make sure that the time I have available is used to the best of my abilities.
What aspects of your studies do you enjoy most?
I enjoy the freedom of the study period. I enjoy being able to go home slightly earlier which gives me a well needed head-start on my studying. I do particularly enjoy studying for subjects like Maths and Physics. Although it may sound weird, these are my strong points and I enjoy the challenge of working out different problems.
When the controlled tests began in June, it was the beginning of the end in terms of formal assessments for you as a 6th Former, what do you feel or think when hearing this?
I do feel a lot of relief because the hard work is coming to an end although university is going to be tough next year. There is also an element of sadness because I know that my time with my friends here at College is coming to an end.
Do you find that College offers sufficient resources when it comes to your studies? And if not, what suggestions would you give to the academic staff?
College offers a lot of resources such as Microsoft Teams where we can ask our teachers questions. I especially make good use of that. There is also Maritzburg College Moodle which has past papers that help in consolidating the work we do.
What advice would you give to your peers during this exam time, be it on how to manage their exam stress, how to study more efficiently or anything that you would find relevant advice?
I think the best way to deal with exam stress is to make sure that you’re fully prepared for the exams by putting enough hours into studying. You also have to remember to keep calm and remember that at the end you will be fine.
A closely related emotion to exam stress is fear, so with that in mind, what subject are you scared of most and why?
The subject I fear most is probably Maths because there is a lot of content to cover and if you get stuck on a Maths problem it gets quite tricky to recover from that and complete the paper.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In 5 year’s time I see myself studying at TUKS (University of Pretoria), hopefully completing a BSc in Agricultural Economics or hopefully playing cricket at a provincial or national level.
Scott Harvey
(6th Form/Top Athletics and Cross Country Runner/Academic Tie)
Who are you? /Tell us about yourself in one sentence
I’m Scott Harvey. I’m in 6th Form, I represent College in Athletics and Cross Country.
Do you find that being active helps you study better?
I think, when it comes to studying, it’s important to stay active as I find it very difficult to study when I have taken part in any activities during the day. But you also need to realise that exams do take preference and they are very important.
On that point, as an athlete performing at the top level, how do you find the perfect balance between being active and studying?
I think everything is about planning, so you need to plan out your hours of when you’re going to study and save some time to do some activities so you can still stay healthy, happy and enjoy life, while still doing well in the classroom.
Is there a subject that you like doing as much as or more than running?
No (chuckling), I can’t say there is a subject that I would choose to do over running. As much as I do enjoy the classroom, I just enjoy my running a lot more. I would say my favourite subject is probably Economics but it still doesn’t quite measure up to running.
When the controlled tests began in June, it was the beginning of the end in terms of formal assessments for you as a 6th Former, what do you feel or think when hearing this?
It’s quite scary when you first hear it and also quite exciting when you think about it because it’s the last time you have to go through the school system of writing exams which are very stressful. I think it’s important to stay calm and realise that if you put in the work, it will be okay.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I haven’t thought that far ahead yet, I am off to TUKS (University of Pretoria) next year to do a BCom in Business Management however, so I could find myself still at TUKS (University of Pretoria) in 5 years’ time but who knows, I’m not too sure about 5 years.
Thaufiq Ibrahim Abramia
(1st in 5th Form Term 1)
Who are you? /Tell me about yourself in one sentence.
My name is Thaufiq Ibrahim Abramia and I placed first in Term 1 in Form 5.
To date, what is the most special academic achievement for you?
My most special academic achievement would be placing first in the form, last year in Form 4 as well as this year in Term 1, as I try to maintain 90% in all of my subjects.
What strength/s do you have and/or have obtained over time to help you perform as well as you do?
A strength of mine would be time management and dedication and when I start studying, I make sure to complete all that I have before doing anything else.
What weakness/es do you have that have stood in your way in terms of your performance at school, if any?
Procrastination would be one of my downfalls when it comes to focusing or when it comes to doing homework or getting things done on time, because sometimes I take too long doing these things or start a bit too late.
Do you find that College offers sufficient resources when it comes to your studies? And if not, what suggestions would you give to the academic staff?
I think that College has many good resources to use such as Moodle and Teams. They’re both very useful, especially the past papers on Moodle. However, these are sometimes locked or restricted so advice I would give to staff is to have these unrestricted in time so that boys can access these.
What academic goals have you set for yourself to help motivate you to do the best you possibly can do?
My academic goal for this year is to place first in the grade, as well as to possibly be the DUX at the end of Grade 12 next year.
Where you do see yourself in 5 years?
For 5 years, I haven’t really set much of a plan for myself, I haven’t decided what I want to do as of yet, but in 5 years, I would like to be in university studying a degree that I haven’t decided on yet.
Since exam stress is almost a certainty for everyone, how have you been dealing with it?
What we can take away from this stressful time is that you need to stay calm during exams and that the anxiety can get a lot. I’ve been in that position myself and you just need to take some time to sit down, calm down and possibly speak to someone else so you can get over your anxiety.
Zibusiso Shongwe
(5th Form/First Team Basketball/Second Team Rugby)
Who are you? /Tell us about yourself in one sentence.
My name is Zibusiso Shongwe. I am currently in 5th form. I play for the 1st teams in basketball and rugby and I finished in the top 20 in my form.
Do you find that being active helps you study better?
I find it does help me in my studying because when I’m playing sports it’s something I like to do so my brain isn’t stressed and whatever stress I have from academics is taken away.
As an athlete performing at the top level, how do you find the perfect balance between being active and studying?
You just need to know yourself. For example, with me I know that I have to separate my sports and academics. From 07:00 to 14:00 it’s strictly my academic time and from 14:00 onwards it’s my sport time.
What advice would you give to your peers on finding that perfect balance between being active and studying?
I think it’s just time management. If you can manage your time and separate your learning time from your sport time you are going to be alright.
Is there a subject that you like doing as much as or more than basketball or rugby?
Believe it or not I like to do Maths. I like to think and be under pressure. It’s why I play sport like basketball, I like to play under pressure because when things are tough, it is when I play at my optimal level.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I haven’t thought that far but I would like to see myself studying towards being a Chartered Accounting at UCT.
Lethokuhle Shangase
(1st in 2nd Form Term 1)
Who are you?/Tell us about yourself in one sentence
My name is Lethokuhle Shangase, I am a 2nd Form Boarder in Nathan House and I was the top academic achiever in 2nd Form for Term 1.
To date, what is the most special academic achievement for you?
The best academic achievements of mine to date are when I was awarded DUX of my primary school and placing first in 2nd Form for Term 1.
In terms of the workload and how exams/tests are done here at College, has there been a big change from how these things were at your Primary School?
Yes, the workload has increased dramatically so I’ve tried coping with this with some studying techniques. I have made some strategies for learning such as planning my weekends and I’ve set up routines for my school days which help me to manage my time well and staying disciplined in order to be more productive in my studying.
Do you find that College offers sufficient resources when it comes to your studies? Which of these do you use? And if not, what suggestions would you give to the academic staff?
I feel strongly that College offers sufficient resources for studying such as Moodle where we get online work and Teams where we can talk to our teachers and ask them questions for revision and for the upcoming tests.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I mostly see myself as being a prefect or a Deputy Head Prefect, and I also see myself as a top academic performer and hopefully being awarded DUX at the end of matric and I’m committed towards this as a goal I’ve set for myself.
Justin Steyn
(2nd Form/7th place in Term 1)
Who are you? /Tell us about yourself in one sentence.
Hi, my name is Justin Steyn. I am a boarder in Nathan House. I finished 7th in 2nd form in Term 1 and I captained the Under /14C team in rugby.
To date, what is the most special academic achievement for you?
My most special academic achievement was when I became the DUX at my primary school last year.
In terms of the workload and how exams/tests are done here at College, has there been a big change from how these things were at your Primary School?
The workload has definitely gotten larger and some of the work has become more complicated especially Natural Sciences and Maths.
Surely, this change is daunting and was hard to deal with it at first, are you still dealing with it now, if so, how are you dealing with it or if you have since dealt with it, how did you deal with it?
It was definitely a daunting task adapting to the new environment here at College but I have settled in well and I am understanding my work and everything that comes with it.
Do you find that College offers sufficient resources when it comes to your studies? And if not, what suggestions would you give to the academic staff?
College does offer us sufficient resources to use for our studies. I find that Moodle and Teams are very useful in terms of my study material. It is very useful and it is readily available to us.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
In my matric year I hope to become a prefect. Preferably Head or Deputy Headboy but being a prefect is also okay. I would also like to end up playing 1st team rugby.