Assumption Convent School learner Katie-Meg Weinerlen proved that to attain matric sometimes requires being bold and courageous.
Katie-Meg started Assumption Convent from Grade One in 2007 and her family was impressed with the wheelchair facilities at the school that they required for four years as Katie-Meg would be wheelchair-bound owing to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis.
This illness came with intense fatigue and nausea as well as many painful joints.
Her parents had to assist her to turn at night, taking her to the toilet and also cut up her food as the joints in her jaw had also been affected.
She was unable to write, which came with its own set of academic challenges.
“My treatment consisted of taking many medications, including a biopic which is a form of chemotherapy. I required weekly physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.”
Katie-Meg recalls the kindness and compassion of her teachers and classmates at Assumption Convent.
“One teacher even converted her storeroom into a room where I could rest. I always tried to focus on what I have than on what had been taken from me,” she said
Grade Eight was a turning point for her when, and with the help of a medical team, she started to walk again.
Life seemed to be returning to normal and in the third term of her Grade Eight-year, she blossomed.
But, she contracted tuberculosis as a result of her compromised immune system.
Again, she missed out on the last term of school and had to self-study to pass the year-end examinations.
“Grade Nine to 11 were relatively straight forward, even though the doctor’s appointments were still regular and the medication was still a daily routine.
“I struggled with a slipped disc, which also required medical intervention.”
She said that she rarely saw her challenges as stumbling blocks and chose to do nine subjects for matric.
“In my matric year, I was elected as deputy head girl. A true indication that I was not going to allow my past to determine my future,” said Katie-Meg.
However, in May of her matric year, Katie-Meg collapsed in her bedroom and fractured her skull.
The CT scan revealed severe bruising and bleeding on the brain.
Her brain functioning in terms of memory and concentration was severely compromised as she had sustained a grade 4 concussion.
Once again, this was a major setback.
At the beginning of August, she decided she would not be able to complete matric as she needed the time to allow her brain to recover.
“The most difficult decision I have ever made was to forego my matric as I would not be matriculating with my classmates, and university would be delayed.
“The one positive thing is that I could do matric with my younger sister,” she said.
When asked what her plans are for her future, she said that she has always wanted to be a doctor.
“My path has not always turned out the way I have wanted it to, but I have learned to trust my journey. Who knows? Maybe it will take me longer to achieve my dream, just as matric took a little longer, or maybe my life’s path will take me in another direction,” said Katie-Meg.
There is no doubt that whatever the future holds, Katie-Meg has developed the necessary resilience and sheer guts to not only navigate it but to also navigate it successfully and graciously.
