Learner pushes through challenges and succeeds
Jessica Jade Wilson failed Grade 11, was bullied when she was younger and buried her best friend last year, but she overcame these obstacles and was awarded as the top matric pupil in Belvedere School.
The Rynfield Agricultural Holdings resident was awarded by the school for being the top matric learner overall, as well as the top achiever in life orientation, English and tourism.
The Benoni Lions Club recognised her achievement in English with a certificate and a cash donation.
Jessica pushed herself through the final exams after her best friend died in August.
“I didn’t think I was going to make it after she died,” Jessica said.
Her friend succumbed to an aneurysm.
During the teenager’s first few weeks at Belvedere, she was approached by her late friend, whose name could not be published.
“I was a big girl, had bright orange hair and a huge bag on my back, and she said: ‘If we are going to be friends, we’ll have to change this’,” Jessica laughingly recalled.
The pair were best friends ever since.
“I don’t know how I got passed it (her death), my third term marks did drop, and I thought I wasn’t going to make it, but I pushed myself to the extent of not even leaving the house, and I guess it brought my marks back up.
“I was super shocked when I got the awards.”
Jessica said her best friend was her inspiration; “the thought of her kept me going”.
“I locked myself away for a while after she passed.”
Jessica was absent from school for three weeks.
The teenager spent Grade 11 and 12 in the Farrarmere-based school, after being home-schooled since Grade Nine.
Jessica went into home schooling mostly because of bullying at the school she was in until Grade Eight.
She spent three years bouncing between different home schooling teachers, but after failing Grade 11 because the teacher did not send through her learners’ work, Jessica’s mother decided to send her back to school.
“Because I only found out I failed Grade 11 in December, no school accepted me except Belvedere,” Jessica said.
“They opened a spot especially for me.
“At the school, I wasn’t bullied anymore, they accepted me for who I was, not where I came from.”
The school gave Jessica counselling after her friend died.
“I may not have liked the school at first, but they pulled me through,” she said.
Jessica’s grandmother, Rosanne Wilson said: “You were so focused and determined.”
Jessica also has attention deficit disorder, but said it didn’t bother her much as she always took medication for it.
The 19-year-old wants to pursue a career in the hotel industry; she said she would like to become a pastry chef otherwise and also has a passion for tattoo art.
Victoria de Abreu, Jessica’s mother said: “Placing her in Belvedere was the best thing we ever did.”
“I’m very proud of her, she went through bullying, bad home schooling experiences, failing Grade 11, changing to a new school and the loss of her friend, but she took it in her stride and did so well.”
Jessica thanked her mother and grandmother for their support throughout everything.
She also expressed gratitude toward the school and the Benoni Lions Club for their recognition of her achievements, and her stepfather, Paul de Abreu.
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