A 17-year-old Extension 9 resident who comes from a family of ten people living in a one-roomed house, is ecstatic to be named the 2013 top performer in Grahamstown District’s historically disadvantaged schools.
A 17-year-old Extension 9 resident who comes from a family of ten people living in a one-roomed house, is ecstatic to be named the 2013 top performer in Grahamstown District’s historically disadvantaged schools.
She will be continuing her studies at Rhodes University by studying towards a B.Comm Accounting degree.
Aviwe Menze, a T.E.M Mrwetyana Senior Secondary School learner, passed her Matric with flying colours as she scooped 3 distinctions in Accounting, Business Studies and Life Orientation, 3 Bs in English, IsiXhosa and Economics and a C in Mathematics.
"I did not see it coming. I wanted to get a Bachelor's degree pass so that I can be accepted at university; being crowned a top achiever is like a cherry on top. I have always been crowned a top achiever since grade seven but this time it caught me off-guard." said Menze.
"I am very exited because she overcame a lot of challenges, it was far from easy for her. We kept motivating her and supporting her throughout. I did my best to make sure that she puts in more effort and does all that is in her power. She always waited for us to go sleep and then she began her whole night study programme," said grandmother Lungelwa Teyise.
"She is a hard worker who is willing to go extra mile in order for her to grasp a concept," added her Mathematics Teacher, Miss May Moya. "She was also willing to come to afternoon classes and extra classes on a Saturday. A very respectful lady who is curious for knowledge and we are proud that she had put our school on the map."
Her mother, Noluthando Menze, said she is grateful to see her child rise above the difficulties. The one thing that they had a problem with was a bursary, but now that is all solved and Aviwe can study towards a degree of her choice."She must just remember that education is a priority and the rest comes after," she said.
"She knows who she is and where she is heading. She also knows where she comes from because that is important. The journey doesn't end here, it begins and it is important for her to maintain the morals and values we taught her here and not change a bit. She must keep working hard for the benefit of her family and herself." added grandmother Teyise.
Despite Menze being crowned the top performer in the Grahamstown District’s historically disadvantaged schools at the top achievers Provincial Gala Dinner and Awards ceremory held at the Osner Hotel in East London on Monday, she still maintains that there were many obstacles in her way.
"It has been very stressful, considering that there was a strike at the beginning of the year at school. The was a shortage of teachers and textbooks," said Menze. "The were school politics that resulted in us not getting our Matric results for the first semester, leading us to failure of applying for bursaries such as Allan Gray which closed applications on 31 May."
She expressed words of gratitude to Upstart, Rhodes Community Engagement, the Absa Achiever programme, Tim Barnard aty St Andrews College Community Engagement, Shireen Badat, Refilwe, Claudia Chandler and the Rhodents at large.
Her parting words are from a Good Luck letter that she received from Rhodes during her exam time, with a quote from Art Williams that reads, "I'm not telling you it will be easy but I'm telling you it is going to be worth it".
