Johannesburg - A matric learner from St Benedict’s College in Bedfordview has proved that anything is possible after he obtained eight distinctions despite the hardships caused by the pandemic.
Marques Hugo, one of the top achievers at St Benedict’s College, said throughout his school career he has learnt some valuable lessons from all his teachers and sports coaches, who at some point had an influence in his journey.
“The first lesson that I learnt is to ‘control the controllables’. Although ’controllables’ may not be a word, I think the principle it describes is very relevant. Essentially, the phrase states that you should only worry about what is in your sphere of control and subsequently you should not worry about things that you cannot control,” said Hugo.
He said the second lesson he learnt was that regardless of your circumstances, whether they be ideal or not, you can always do your best and that he should not make excuses to always put in maximum effort but to trust the process instead.
Due to the pandemic, schools were forced to partake in online learning. Hugo explained that he missed out on senior sports seasons, overseas tours as well as that sense of normality at school.
Hugo has participated in extramural activities, such as rowing, hockey, drama, public speaking debating, piano, Portuguese lessons and community service. He would arrive home late daily, but despite that he was still able to juggle all these activities, his family and social life.
He said the trick to doing everything you want to do is to believe that where there is a will there is a way, and that if you really want something you will make the sacrifices or put the measures and time in place to make it happen.
When asked what his favourite school subject was, he said history, because it taught him to think and analyse information.
Hugo plans to study medicine at a university next year.
He told The Star that his encouragement to those who are currently in matric would be to take everything one moment at a time, regardless of the good or less good, take a breath and handle everything as it comes.
“There is nothing you can do to change the weather. Therefore, you should not worry about how bad the weather is. This I applied to my exams in that I could not have controlled how hard the test would be, so I chose not to worry. Instead, I chose to focus on how hard I was studying and preparing for the exam.”
The Star