The Ngwenya family legacy

Promises and perseverance

I assured her that I understood and that I would never allow a relationship to distract me from my studies.Although she remained concerned, she eventually accepted my explanation.That evening, I changed out of my school uniform and went to the living room, where I spent some time playing PlayStation.Later, Tshepiso called us for supper. We ate together as a family before I returned to my room.

Even though I enjoyed playing games, I still spent part of the night studying Mathematics because our June examinations were approaching.Before going to bed, I reminded myself that success would only come through hard work and discipline.The next morning, I woke up feeling energetic and confident. Before anyone else was awake, I prepared breakfast for the family.

When my sisters came into the kitchen, they were surprised."Did you really make all of this?" Tshepiso asked.I nodded with a smile."But you only went to bed after midnight," she said. "How did you find the energy to wake up so early?"

"I'm motivated," I replied. "Besides, today is my mathematics exam."

Everyone looked at me in disbelief. The previous evening, they had seen me playing PlayStation, and they assumed I had not studied enough.

"Are you ready?" Karabo asked.

"I'm more than ready," I said confidently. "I plan to be one of the top students in the class."Tshepiso laughed."We'll see about that."

After breakfast, we left for school while our older sisters headed to work.When we arrived at school, our mathematics teacher, Mr Lengole, addressed the class.

"If you did not prepare properly," he warned, "do not expect good results. This examination is designed to test your understanding, not your luck."

The classroom became silent.Tshepiso looked at me nervously after hearing the teacher's warning.I simply smiled."He's just trying to scare us," I whispered.A few minutes later, the examination papers were handed out.As I read through the questions, I felt relieved. The problems were challenging, but they were similar to the exercises I had practiced many times before.

I worked through each question carefully and confidently.When I finished, I checked my answers twice before submitting my paper.Outside the examination room, I felt proud of my performance.A few moments later, Tshepiso joined me.She looked worried."That paper was much harder than I expected," she said.

"It wasn't impossible," I replied. "The examiner simply wanted to test whether we truly understood the work."She shook her head."I don't think I did very well."I encouraged her not to lose hope before the results were released.Two days later, Mr. Lengole entered the classroom carrying a stack of marked examination scripts.The room instantly became quiet.