If your educational journey does not go as hoped, you don’t have to change your goal.
You can change the approach, says Giovanni Vaston (21) of Wesbank, a newly enrolled B Nursing student at the University of the Western Cape (UWC).
When Giovanni matriculated from Kuils River Technical High School in 2021, he wasn’t satisfied with his results, despite achieving a Bachelor’s pass and one distinction.
“I had maths, physics, and life sciences, but my marks weren’t what I wanted them to be.”
This led to his first unplanned gap year, which, he recalls, was tough.
”My father’s friend helped me find part-time work.”
He worked part-time, later secured an assistant position at a local primary school, and took on a contract as an administrative assistant at the same school.
At the start of 2024, Giovanni decided to consider rewriting matric subjects, as he didn’t want to remain stuck in temporary employment.
Someone at the school where he worked gave him the phone number of Danielle Brikkels, the principal of West Bank High School.
“This is why I say it’s God’s work – everything happened as if it were meant to be. I reached out to the principal and made an appointment to discuss my situation. I told her about my plan, and without hesitation, she told me I could rewrite my subjects there.”
Fire
Giovanni chose mathematical literacy and tourism to better his matric results.
“It was a bit overwhelming to go back to school. I didn’t have to attend full-time, but I had to be in class for these two subjects.”
He attended classes until June, when he started working as a cashier at USave in Wesbank.
“When I heard USave had a job for me, I had to make a decision. I told my teachers and my other managers that I wanted this job to save up for a laptop for university because I already believed I was going to get into university.
“I explained to the teachers that I wouldn’t be able to attend class full-time anymore, but I would come for the exams. My manager also agreed to give me time off for the exam days.”
He resigned as cashier shortly before the matric exams.
“It was getting a bit overwhelming. I’d leave late at night from USave and knew I wouldn’t have enough time to study.”
In January, he learned that he had passed both subjects with distinction and had been accepted to UWC.
“I was waiting for NSFAS to clear me so I could register, but when that didn’t happen, I had to figure out how to pay the registration fee.”
Now, he is a proud student, but a B Nursing degree will most likely not be the end of his educational journey.
“I initially wanted to be a medical doctor but things didn’t work out with maths and physics. I knew I wanted to be in health sciences, in a medical field.”
Studying nursing could still potentially help him get into medical school.
“I don’t think my educational journey will ever stop,” Giovanni says.
He could have given up long ago, but there is a fire inside him that keeps him going.
“In my community, where I grew up, and in my family, no one has made it to university. My father finished matric, but no one has gone further. That’s something I wanted to do.”
- TygerBurger reported on the improved matric pass rate of West Bank High School last week. Throughout last year, once a month, the school got a motivational speaker (whom the learners could relate to) to adress the Grade 12s. Giovanni also shared his journey.
