Dainfern College’s Skye Goss (14), is the poster child for an achiever.
The Grade 8 youngster recently wiped the boards at the regional National Eisteddfod Awards. Goss won the overall Best Senior Achievement Award for the Johannesburg North Region.
Her win was impressive as it covers the genres of dance, singing, musical instruments and speech and drama.
Goss was one of the more than 11 000 entrants received by the National Eisteddfod body. In the northern suburbs of Randburg and Sandton, she was one of 4 500 entrants.
Francois van den Berg, CEO of the National Eisteddfod Academy (NEA) said, “The non-profit organisation’s aim is to make champions of our youth through youth development in the arts.”
Applauding Goss’ win, Van den Berg said the organisation would celebrate its 20th anniversary next year and had, since its founding in 1997, provided a platform for more than 450 000 participants to showcase and develop their talents in the arts.
To top off the list of wins, Goss also received a Prestige Award for Best Senior Achievement in Speech and Drama as well as an Ambassador Award for Outstanding Achievement as one of the top three performers. In addition, Goss won two NEA Medal Awards as Category Winner for her English Contemporary and Comic Monologues. She was also the item winner for her speech to inspire, and free verse poetry.
Overall, Goss competed in 18 items across drama and singing and even performed a song she wrote with the school rock band where she plays the drums.
She also wrote and performed her own stand-up comedy as well as a poem written by her brother.
This is not her first brush with success, last year Goss participated in the South African Championships of the Performing Arts where she won the Junior Grand Champion of the Year Award. The award goes to the junior aged five to 15 with the highest individual score for a performance among all of the juniors across all categories of instrumental, singing, acting, dance and modelling.
Goss added that the best advice that she could give other aspiring hopefuls is to set goals for themselves. “It is very important that you work very hard and make sure you achieve your goals. Also challenge yourself and take some risks to make sure you push your limits.”
Goss further added that there was a warning too. “On the surface, it may look like I have often won but I have also often lost. Performing can be a roller coaster filled with ups and downs. Sometimes it is a rush of adrenalin and you excel and feel good, but more often than not you do not win that gold or diploma you were hoping for.”
