The Post

My advice to matric pupils ...

NARENDH GANESH Durban North

ARISTOTLE, the Greek philosopher and polymath, once said: “The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”

In just over a month, you will sit for an examination that will chart the map for the rest of your life, a map that you are the cartographer of today.

Quite early on in our lives, my dad impressed upon his children that the strongest and most powerful weapon that nobody can take away from us is education.

In a world that is moving much faster than most can cope with and where the demands on the individual are rising every day, you sit on the precipice of a new world order in which you are the master of your own destiny.

Admittedly, education alone does not guarantee success. It is the way education is used that ultimately determines success and happiness.

As your final preparations for the exams gathers steam, it is vital that you discard all else around you and give your total concentration on what lies ahead.

Your performance in the matric exams will determine the availability of choices you will have for a career path, which, of course, can change depending on the circumstances of your life. But your best efforts will reap the rewards later that you may not imagine.

It is true that emphasis is placed on academic achievement as a means of educational success, but this is not

always the case. Many people can relate to having minimal educational qualifications but becoming successful in their fields of endeavour, but a good education informs you better, in part, to making better decisions and giving you opportunities that you may never have had without it.

Like a house with a firm foundation, it can stand the test of time even when conditions become treacherous and dangerous. As the adage goes, “a smooth sea never made a skilful mariner”. The best-laid plans can go horribly awry in a world that asks much more of us than we may be able to give.

Your hopes, ambitions and dreams

will remain fantasies unless you put your shoulder to the wheel in the final run-up and ensure you give yourself a fair shot at life. You must do the best you can now to realise and achieve what you once dreamt of.

Some of you may come from privileged backgrounds with better facilities and opportunities to perform better in exams, and some may not, but education knows no wealth or privilege. It is simply the will and determination, the courage and zest and importantly, the mindset to be a go-getter to achieve.

After all, Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame only started franchising his chicken business at the age of 65 with just a $105 security grant that he was receiving.

Whether you are at a private school or state school in South Africa, it does not matter. A successful and solid education will hold you in good stead the world over. The global village has become that much smaller suddenly, and you never know when your education is needed as a passport to another part of the world.

My advice: make these last few days of your schooling career count like no other. Burn the midnight oil if you have to. Dispense with social media. Discard the notion of weekends out. Become a recluse with your books as your only companion so that you can give yourself a fighting chance at life and success.

The term carpe diem comes from the Roman poet Horace and it literally means “pluck the day”. It is usually translated as “seize the day”. Your time has come to seize the days ahead because your future is now.

Even if you don’t obtain the desired results you hoped for, turn your stumbling blocks into stepping stones to achieve better. In doing so, you may lessen or have no regrets later in life.

All the best to every pupil sitting for the 2022 matric exams, and as Nelson Mandela said: It always seems impossible until it is done.

Good luck!

Opinion

en-za

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-09-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thepostza.pressreader.com/article/281698323621308

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