Umlazi matriculant’s long walk to success
With no money for transport, Zizile embarked on the daily long walk from her home, never losing sight of her dream to change her circumstances
ZIZILE Msomi did not let a two-hour walk to school or financial constraints get in the way of her dream of studying chemical engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
With no money for transport, Zizile embarked on the daily long walk from her home on the outskirts of Umlazi township to attend classes at Zwelibanzi High, never losing sight of her vision to change her circumstances.
She remains determined to rise above them.
Out of 532 matrics who attended the Engen Maths and Science Schools (EMSS) across South Africa in 2018, Zizile’s results placed her second overall.
In the 2018 finals she scored an incredible seven distinctions – including 98% for science and 89% for maths.
‘I attended the EMSS supplementary programme hosted at Mangosuthu University every Saturday, which helped boost my marks, which were initially quite low,” says Zizile.
Her biggest challenge was to stay motivated after first losing her father in 2016 and then her grandmother in June last year.
‘Losing people that you love is always difficult, but it also motivated me to make them proud, be the best version of myself and do everything in my power to improve my family situation and give back to the community,’ she adds.
Sacrifice is part of the deal
Her advice for the class of 2019 is to prioritise, sacrifice and focus on their schoolwork.
‘As Madiba said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’.’
A total of 532 matriculants from across South Africa benefitted from the Engen-backed extra classes in English, maths and science last year, achieving an impressive 93% pass rate overall compared to the national rate of 78.2%.
The top three positions nationally in the 2018 EMSS class all hailed from KwaZulu-Natal, with Velabahleke High School’s Thabiso Ndlovu topping the class both nationally and provincially, followed by Zizile and Brenton Johnson of Grosvenor Boys’ High.
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