My own school experience

Hi everyone

Knowing what my own school experience has been is important for this blog as it has shaped me into who I am today as well as the experiences I've had in life. From several of our class discussions during this year it was easy to see that in South Africa, not only is this country very diverse but we've all had different opportunities and experiences in life. Our country has been through Apartheid that has affected many of us in ways some of us might not even be aware of, me included. I was born in 1995 post Apartheid. Let's not get into that too much for now, here is my own school going experience.

Some background

I attended primary school and high school in Town 1 full of people with wealth that are mostly white. I'm not from a wealthy family at all and we struggled for years to make ends meet. We didn't live close to the school as the neighbourhood surrounding the school was where all the rich people lived in there huge houses. Instead, we moved around a lot as we could never afford to buy a house and rent is still very high in Town 1. 

Both my parents didn't go to university. My dad went to a college of some sort only to discover it was not for him. My mom never wanted to attend university. Both come from middle, possibly lower, class families.

Primary school

My primary school is the school that was seen as the best primary school in town as the classes were small and possibly because that's where the rich kids went. I have no knowledge about why I attended this school. The school provided me with the needed foundation for my education. The school is Afrikaans and mostly white. In grade 7 there were 8 children of colour out of the 70 children in the grade, some of which attended pre-school with me. The school put a lot of focus on our English, we started with English in grade 2 and a lot of emphasis were put on tenses in later grades. I was already speaking English at the age of about 5. My parents come from Afrikaans families so their English wasn't very good, but have improved a lot over the years. The school also provided me with culture knowledge. Things like how to behave during concerts, performing, plays and being part of choir. The school had lots of sports to play and all of us played at least one sport every year of primary school. Athletics and interschools were part of the yearly program. The school has a library and computer room. Each class had library and computer time once a week during which we learned how libraries worked, we were encouraged to read and learned the needed computer skills. This was before internet was a "normal" thing. All these things put together shaped me into who I am today and helped me to bridge the gap not only from primary to high school, but also from high school to university. Without me being bilingual, well read to some extent and the skills and knowledge I acquired at primary school I wouldn't be the same person today.

My social experience in primary school is a completely different story. Arriving at the school children amongst themselves were judged and placed in social groups based on the wealth they came from. I do not feel that I received the same treatment from my teachers. So say for instance Tom lived 2 blocks from the school, his mom is a stay at home mom and she drives the newest Mercedes. Tom was then socially placed as one of the cool kids, regardless of his personality, appearance and interests. I, on the other hand, lived on the other side of town. We had a second hand car and both my parents worked. I was placed as one of the losers. The cool kids looked down at the others all the time, said mean things and civvie days were the worst. Civvie days the judgements were the worst as branded and expensive clothing was the norm for most of the children. The rich and poor kids never played together and never really got to know each other. I believe all this comes from their parents.  My parents taught me to treat all people the same way, respect all people and love all people regardless of race and social stance. 

One of the things that hasn't been mentioned in our classes this year is that there are children in middle and upper class schools who don't pay school fees. There were several years that my parents couldn't afford my school fees and got exempted from paying them. I always had the school supplies I needed, wore second hand school clothes and had simple packed lunches. My dad always said that he doesn't have the money to buy as things, but he has the chance to provide us with opportunities. That has always stuck with me. Even when times were tough, I always had the opportunity to learn and take part in things at school. I didn't necessarily get my cultural capital from home, but I got a lot of it from school. Internet was just starting to come into the rich peoples' homes and we went to the town's library for all our school projects. There I was able to take out lots of books weekly and to improved my English an gain cultural capital for free.  

High school

In Town 1 there are 3 well-known schools, all of which are one gender schools and which are semi-private as their school fees are very high. They are so well-known that if you say you were in school in Town 1 a person will automatically ask you if you attended one of these schools. I attended the other semi-white school in town. My school is right across from my primary, on the other side of town away from the 3 above mentioned schools. I didn't apply to any other schools and I just knew this was the school I wanted to attend. The school fees were way less than the 3 schools and has both boys and girls who attend the school. I remember how shocked I was on the first day to see how many coloured children attended the school, it was about 50-50. There were only a hand full of black children attending the school as the school is Afrikaans only. The school had about 650 learners, 120 in my matric class. The school has a hostel with many children attending from small towns far away. I didn't find it hard to make friends with the coloured children, but I never became super close with them. I talked to many different people and connected to people easily, but still felt very much alone. 

It was only in grade 9 that I realised how smart I really was and what I was capable of. I got full marks for our one maths test and that day has changed me in so many ways, as I proved to myself what I can achieve through hard work. In grade 9 I was on the top 25 twice at the end of each quarter. I played netball from grade 1 up until grade 11. I had the marks and the chance to do Admaths, which is advanced maths which helps to bridge the gap between high school and university. I was in the school choir for two years. In grade 11 I decided to be part of two school committees where I worked with the finances. I'm not certain when, but sometime during high school I realised I could really improve my life if I can push really hard on my academics, attend university and get a bursary. I believed in myself so much and pushed myself so much that I told myself that I will not attend university if I don't get a bursary. I was fully aware that my parents could not afford my university fees even if I got in. I finished 17th in my matric class with 2 of the 4 A's that I wanted, I was disappointed in myself.  My school subjects were: Afrikaans Huistaal, English Home Language, Life Orientation, Mathematics, Accounting, Life Sciences and Hospitality Studies. High school gave me the needed academic knowledge and opportunities, but I do not feel that it gave the same kind of diverse knowledge that I received in my primary school.

My social experience in high school was a bit odd to be honest, it might just be a teenager thing. I found it hard to pick a friend group out of 120 learners in my grade. I'm an extrovert and connect with people easily. I know all the people in my grade by name and surname. I knew lots of people from other grades as well. I just found it very restricting to pick friends from these people, as I found them shallow, some unmotivated and uninterested. I drifted between groups for years and in matric came to accept who I am and didn't care what people think of me anymore. I was liked by my teachers and was a pleasant learner as I always did my work and didn't talk much in class. Only participating in class when I had valid points or specific questions. I was always, and still am, the person who people come to for academic and emotional support as I always knew exactly what was going on. 

Plans for after school

I applied for university a few days after the applications opened and was accepted a week later. I was accepted so early that no one wanted to believe me. Once I was accepted I was able to apply for bursaries early as well. I received a Funza Lushaka Bursary which includes tuition fees, printing and internet fees and pocket money. I went on to study Bcom Mathematical Sciences.

I hope you found this interesting and insightful. 

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