My Final School Year

I am Nhlakanipho Knolege Mthethwa a student studying to be a teacher in the foundation phase at the University of Mpumalanga. I was born in Mpumalanga in a little township called Elukwatini. This was not a busy township but in recent years it has developed well enough to have attracted people of nearby areas to come and do business, shopping and more. It has also been helped by the fact that a new mine has been opened up nearby, opening the opportunity for business growth and economic development. This town is made up mostly of a Swati speaking people hence it closer to Swaziland.

https://www.google.co.za/maps/place/Takheni+Secondary+School/@-26.046585,30.7984275,1056m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x0:0x71550f3a49db2179!2sElukwatini+Crossing!3m1!1s0x0000000000000000:0x87237a31dafa71cb!6m1!1e1

All of my life I have spent there and hence my education as well. My final year in school was in 2011 in a school called Takheni Secondary School. This school was a public school like most schools in the area. I was enrolled in this school because it was the best science school known to produce good results for its pupils. Indeed it was the best as I have experienced it myself. Although at the time I thought it was the best option because it was closer to home so I could walk there. Having the experience of being left behind at the station by the bus in my primary school days was one I wished never to experience again.

Amazingly my school never had all the resources a science school should have but we passed. That being said we never had any form of technology that we used in our classes, accept for those who did CAT a computer subject. Our teachers were brilliant, giving their time and effort to assist where possible even if it meant spending their own money for us. It was there that I learned to make do with what I had.

In my grade twelve year I was in the science stream. I had been for two years for in our time we chose streams in grade ten. This meant I had to spend lots of my time studying, for this stream was not an easy one. But with determination and hard work coupled with good friends and good teachers, not to mention wonderful and supportive parents I had a good recipe for success.

We were also encouraged to make study groups to improve marks and it worked. I also have to say that it was difficult for we made a few different groups before we found ourselves being a well-oiled machine. This was a perseverance lesson well learned. 

The science stream has seven subjects. SiSwati (Home Language), English (First Additional Language), Mathematics, Life Orientation, Life Sciences, Physical sciences and Geography.

It was hard, tough and mostly tiring. But at the end I managed to pull through. For this pass I had to sacrifice a lot of things I loved. To mention a few, I had to stop going for soccer practice on a regular basis, practice piano less, play with friends less and sometimes even church as we had to attend on Sundays. For this though I managed to pass with an average of seventy to eighty percent average which is pretty good if I say so myself, although I would have wanted to achieve more.

Because school is not all about the formal education but also about the community and us as pupils form a community in the school, I had the pleasure of meeting the greatest of friends. Overcame some of the most terrifying experiences and challenges. School was an experience to remember for sure!