Hear our joyful voices ring: The last page

My matric year started during an assembly where we were voted in as executive members and it ended in a flurry of newspapers in a way out garage at 1am this morning. And through the lessons where it was just too boring to stay awake to the impromptu dance parties in our cozy exec room, I found a happiness I would not trade for the world. Finally I am at the last page of this book.

7 distinctions is what the paper says next to my name. My parents cried. My father held me and wept in joy. It hasn't hit me yet but when it does I'm sure I will cry too. My friends are all making me so so proud. Through the late nights of complaining to the early morning jokes, we stuck to it. It's at this point I realise I came out of high school with a family. It was never just school for me. 

It was a home to me. Those cool brick walls that soothed my aching wrists between rushed paragraphs in the History exam,housed us for 5years. I walked into those gates with a new, too-big blazer and walked out for the last time with tears and a blazer that had seen many days. I knew one person on my first day at school. That was it. 

Now I have countless sisters.

Thank you Northlands Girls High for being MY high school. For being the place I told everyone to send their child because it was just THAT good. For the teachers who did more than they actually needed to, who were always there to listen, laugh and give us that push we needed. For the mentorship it provided to teach us to be better leaders, better people. For the friends I've made. I found my voice while wandering those crowded hallways with my friends and I found my soul lingering in the hugs as we said good morning in Registration. Change is inevitable and it is time to say goodbye to my days there. 

I wept when we had our last official day. I cried like someone had died and I would never see them again. I wept because it felt like yesterday when I first sang our School Song in the hall. The cocoon stage was almost over at that point. 

Tomorrow we are officially moving. So it's a week of change but that's ok. The winds will blow you in many directions but I have a feeling that the roots I've laid down will remain hardy for a long time. The past five years have shaped me. I don't know what lies ahead but I will always be grateful that so far, it's been one heck of a trip. So thank you to everyone who has been part of it who reaffirmed my faith in God everyday with your kindness, lessons of humility and love that kept me motivated throughout this year. 

Twenty Thirteen

When I was 9, I worked out that when I turned 18 it would be 2013. When I was 13, I looked forward to it because it would mark the end of school and essentially my teenage years. Perhaps I will define my youth by this year. It would be the year I met myself properly and I liked who I saw. There was (and is) a lot of hype surrounding the Matric exams and now results are pending for those of us who did NSC exams. But if there's something I learned this year, it was that my problems are tiny in the grand scheme of things. Whatever it is will pass and it won't define you. The worries at the beginning of last year seem trivial (if I can remember them).

2013 was the year I changed it up, I worked hard for myself and it made all the difference. The results that come out, will be for me. Its not about what "The People" will say - They didn't put the work in, they didn't feel the strained eyes and sore wrists that we had while studying. My parents were especially understanding during Finals though. They get that you have to work for yourself and not for other people. I went to a new church and I've learned so muchfrom the lessons of how  ordinary things can have hints of something divine. I've seen how ordinary people can do extraordinary acts of goodwill and kindness just to help their fellow man. 

I think that's what showed me that I've changed. I put my everything into this year and it was ok because it was for me. You had to be selfish and take time for yourself too.I encountered some amazing people this year. The more people you meet, the more lessons you learn. From real life to the (mostly) wonderful people of Twitter, I  learned Life Lessons:

1) You can be the most awarded and brilliant person but that people will love you and respect you for your humility. Its that attitude that can be your crowning glory because it just highlights your successes without you having to boast them.

2) Its ok to break down in a crowded room and say "I'm sorry" to the people who matter. Because they will cry with you and echo your raw, tearful feelings. You show your strength of character when you can be vulnerable and admit to being wrong.

3) You will fall. And that's ok sometimes. You will fall so hard that everything seems impossible. The trick is to forget your fears and start climbing again.

4) Everything is Life Experience. Good, bad or just plain weird. You learn from everything and pray that you grow from it.

5) Life is short so you don't have to make your dresses shorter to fit in. Be yourself regardless of what's fashionable because we can all see your tweets from 2012. And you were totally a Belieber, babes.

6) At the end of the day, you have to wash your own undies. No one else should be forced to sort out your private stuff.

So in preparation for the New Year's barrage of messages of goodwill and the slight fear that looms with the unknown future, be thankful for this year. I am.

For the friends I've made while learning Afrikaans poems, for the Tweeters who made #SuesMatricDance a thing, for all the times my ribs hurt because I laughed too hard during History. For the nerves before a speech during Best Speakers and the joy of saying hello to everyone in the Morning Registration. For the English lessons on poetry and life.  I'm so grateful for all that I have and all that I've learned. Thank you for making 2013 beautiful.

And thank you to my readers who have been so kind to take time out for my little blog.

Happy New Year !(albeit a bit late)

Tomorrow the results of the Matric exams are released. Nothing has prepared me for the nerves that have sprung up (since I stayed relatively calm all year, this stress is a foreign feeling). There will be no sleep for me tonight or my mother who is a ball of nerves. I'm hoping I can write a guide to surviving Matric Exams and Results but there's no telling what could happen if I don't survive myself. Good luck Class of 2013. And thank you to the people who made my matric year (and school experience) Amazing!