Top pupil to study engineering
This young and ambitious student said during his grade 12 year he would only sleep for three hours.
A top Tembisa pupils has begin studying at the engineering faculty at Wits University.
The former Masisebenze Comprehensive School pupil achieved six distinctions for last year’s grade 12 examinations.
Bennett Thaba Mkabe said he was inspired by a facilitator at a career expo to take up a lucrative career in chemical engineering.
He said his hard work paid off because he obtained a bursary from a top company in South Africa.
This young and ambitious student said during his grade 12 year he would only sleep for three hours.
“I sacrificed my sleeping time to study. Master your books from the beginning and don’t wait for the year to end. Sacrifice if you have a goal to work towards,” he said.
He said he has always been a top and dedicated student, even during his primary school days at Nyiko Primary School, not knowing that excelling would pay off one day.
Bennet said he always had a plan and believed that everything should work according to it.
“Learners should be self motivated. My motivation was fear of failure. I knew that there were no money for my education, excelling was my best and last option,” he said.
“You don’t want to look back and know you could have done better. These words pushed me to work harder.”
When asked what his secret of getting so many distinctions was, he said he always gave himself two hours to study at school after school finished.
He said by the time he returned home, it would be dark and he wouldn’t watch television.
He would eat and sleep at around 7pm every day. After three hours of sleep, he would be return to focus on his work throughout the night and day.
To keep awake, Bennett would drink a lot of cold water and tea.
“The other thing is to take your assignments seriously and do your homework and classroom activities. These things count towards your final marks at the end of the year,” said Bennett.
He advised grade 12 pupils to practice previous exam papers from all the years.
“Don’t be afraid to ask your teachers and fellow classmates. Don’t be greedy with information. Share, as sharing makes you understand a subject even better,” he said.
Bennet found tertiary education to be very different from a high school’s teaching method, which he said is a minor challenge he has to adapt to.
“Lecturers skim through key points. There’s no thorough explanation and there’s too much information in a short period of time. There is no spoon feeding,” he said.
He said one day he would also love to give back to the community by sponsoring a couple of needy students.
He said his achievements were possible because he puts God first in everything that he does.
“I wouldn’t have done this without the help from my teachers too. I want to give special thanks to my principal, Mr Nicholas Moyaha. Thanks to my family for their support.
“I want to thank the Hope Restoration Church for putting R15 000 towards my studies. Thanks to my church, House of the Twelve Apostles, for their prayers,” said Bennet.
