St Mary’s top achievers soaring high as they aim for UCT

Hannah Henry: Chasing the numbers

Hannah Henry of the St Mary’s School in Johannesburg is among many IEB matriculants who are confident that they have done well in their matric year.

Henry said that she is expecting to excel in in her favourite subject accounting, mathematics and drama but hopefully she has done well for herself in all her subjects.

“I am expecting to get distinctions in my favourite subject is accounting as I enjoy working with numbers and have always dreamed of being a business woman, maths and drama but hopefully all of my subjects,” said Henry.

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18-year-old Henry said that she hopes of studying business sciences, specialising in finance with accounting at the University of Cape Town and wants to go on to become a chartered accountant.

“I have always been interested in the business sector and this degree also allows me to travel internationally whilst still working which is what I plan to do in the future,” said Henry.

Tlou Duba: In love with coding

Meanwhile her classmate Tlou Duba who was on the St Mary’s list of outstanding and commendable achievers said that the pandemic made her more responsible and time savvy because she had to adhere to deadlines and depend on herself to not let the workload get her down.

“When the President announced lockdown in March we had to adjust in three days which was quite tough, we didn’t know what to expect for the weeks and months that were ahead.

“We had to be responsible for understanding our own work and stick to deadlines and also manage our time, when we were at school someone else was always responsible for us but at home we were required to have more responsibility for our studies,” said Duba.

The St Mary’s former head girl said that she is now looking forward to exploring Cape Town as she is also looking to pursue her studies in Computer Science.

When asked what inspired her choice of study, she said that her love for coding led her in the direction of computer science.

“I had never done IT until grade 10 and when I did, I instantly fell in love with the coding aspect of it was just so interesting to me and it was a nice challenge, and I thought why not continue with it because I loved it and I was really good at it,” Duba added.

Duba said that as a former head girl she had to always be grounded and disciplined, so her advice to the Class of 2021 is to live for the moment because this is just another year.

“My advice for the 2021 matriculants is to push through this year, live for the moment because you cannot worry about the future or the past. If you focus on what is happening now everything that is coming in the future will automatically line up,” said Duba.

Oke Odiley: Surrounded by positive energy

Another St Mary’s learner, Oke Odiley said she hopes study chemical engineering at UCT so that she can help keep a more sustainable and environmentally friendly, especially in Nigeria.

“My home village in Nigeria suffers the negative effects of oil pollution due to unsustainable processes in factory and so I hope to be an innovator of processes that do not cause environmental damages, especially for more disadvantaged areas,” said Odiley.

Odiley said that as much as this would surprise everyone the pandemic bettered her final year in terms of academic study and focus and didn’t really affect her so much.

“Contrary to popular belief, the pandemic bettered my final year in terms of academic study and focus. I was able to spend more time with my family and this positively stimulated my mind and motivated me when it came to my studies. I was able to spend more time on coming up with effective studying strategies seeing as we had less tests during lockdown,” said Odiley.

Odiley said that she was surrounded with positive energy and like-minded people which contributed to her achieving what she wanted.

“My family and friends helped me focus in my final year. I was surrounded by positive energy and a prayerful family and this grounded me while keeping my spirits up, thus helping me focus on my final year,” she added.

Odiley said that apart from the normal academics she enjoyed dancing, basketball, cinematography and photography as her extramural activities.

“I partook in dance, which I was the deputy head of, basketball, cinematography and photography. I love dancing, it is a great emotional outlet and a good physical workout that helps to keep me in shape while keeping me happy. I also love taking photos and videos and editing them.”

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