Vryheid High School’s, Bradley Formo, embarks on a journey of self-discovery

WITH seven A’s to back him up, Vryheid High matriculant, Bradley Formo, knows that the world is his oyster and he is embracing the next phase of his life with youthful exuberance.

Unlike other academic achievers, Bradley Formo does not have a career path planned ahead. In fact, he hasn’t even applied to any universities.

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Instead, Bradley is taking a gap year in which he will embark on a journey of self-discovery. 2018 will be the year in which Bradley explores South Africa, to see what this beautiful country has to offer, and spend time shadowing professionals in different fields, to find out what excites and inspires him.

If he is as focused on this as he has been on excelling academically, we know that he is bound to accomplish great things.

“A lot of people I know just went along with the first thing that they decided on in high school and I can see how unhappy they are. I want to be sure of what I want to do with my life, because once I have decided, I will put everything I have into being successful at it.

“I have narrowed it down to three possible choices. I may decide to pursue a career as an English teacher, a psychologist, or an architect. I went through a very difficult time during my matric year and my teachers were very supportive. I would like to be there for others, the way that they were there for me. That is why I have considered teaching or psychology. I considered architecture because I really enjoyed designing houses and performing other practical tasks in Technical Drawing.

“But nothing in my life is set in stone. I intend to live life to the fullest this year, to meet new people and to have new experiences. When I enroll next year, I will be the first in my family to go to university.”

Bradley, who obtained the Top Achiever Award at Vryheid High last year, learned that he had obtained 7 A’s while sitting in his pyjama’s watching the Golden Girls with his mum.

“A friend of mine got the newspaper and took a picture of my results and sent it to me on whatsapp. I was so excited I started jumping up and down and screaming at the top of my lungs. At first, my mum didn’t know what was going on. When I told her, she hugged me and congratulated me. After that I calmed down, and started contacting other members of my family to tell them the good news.”

Bradley advises the matric class of 2018 that academic excellence requires passion, focus, dedication and sacrifices. “I pushed myself to go further and would never settle for less than the result that I wanted. This meant that I didn’t have much time to pursue sports or hobbies,” he said.

“Every morning before the final exams, I studied from 4am till 6am then got ready for school. In the afternoons, I relaxed for about two hours, during this time I would watch TV, jog or do pilates, then I would commit to four hours of studying with 15 minute breaks in between. During my breaks, I practiced piano. After studying, I cooked dinner… which is something else I loved to do, so perhaps ‘chef’ may be a career option,” Bradley mused. “Every night, before bed I did some reading to relax. I enjoy Terry Pratchet.”

Bradley’s study technique involved summarising everything that he had learned. Once he was done writing a summary, he would throw it away and immediately begin summarising the same content again until he remembered it perfectly.

“If my mind strayed, I just reminded myself of the result that I wanted and got back on track.”

One of the biggest obstacles Bradely had to overcome in his matric year, is dealing with people’s prejudices after he professed publicly that he was gay.

“My teachers and best friends were very accepting, but the sneers and nasty remarks made by some of the learners made me feel isolated. I wish people would accept and appreciate others the way they were. I got through this by accepting that the things they said were just their opinions, it didn’t define me. When I felt overwhelmed, I told myself to relax and reminded myself that things are probably much better than they seemed in that moment. I would advise any learner who may be going through something similar to just keep calm and stay focused. Think about how much better your life will be in comparison to theirs when you reach for your dreams.”

Asked if he had a special message for the class of 2018, Bradley concluded, “I want everyone to know that there is no measurement for success that fits everyone. Every person has a unique talent… their own thing that they excel in. For me it was academics, for a friend of mine, it was music. I know a girl, who didn’t do well academically, who sings beautifully. To quote a famous 80’s song, ‘Don’t stop believing.’ Never settle for anything less than perfect.”

Bradley thanks the teachers at Vryheid High, his register class, and his family, especially his mum.