For Katie-Meg Weinerlein, her school journey had been filled with challenges, but none that she couldn’t overcome as she celebrates her 2019 Independent Examinations Board (IEB) National Senior Certificate pass.
Katie-Meg, who is often described as courageous, was one of Assumption Convent School’s top achievers earning distinctions in Afrikaans, English, life orientation and life sciences.
She also placed in the IEB’s top one per cent for Afrikaans.
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Katie-Meg started her school career at Assumption Convent in Grade One in 2007.
Her family remembers clearly how impressed they were that there were wheelchair facilities at the school.
Little did they know that they would require these facilities four years later as Katie-Meg would be wheelchair-bound with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Her illness came with intense fatigue and nausea, as well as many painful joints.
For four years she was immobile.
Her parents had to turn her at night, take her to the toilet and 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.
Her treatment consisted of many medications, including a biologic, which is a form of chemotherapy.
Added to this, she required weekly physiotherapy and hydrotherapy.
As a result of the illness, she missed out on much of her Grade Five, Six and Seven years.
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,” she explained.
When asked how she managed to cope, she said that she always tried to focus on what she had rather than on what had been taken from her.
Grade Eight was a turning point for her when, with the help of a medical team, she started to walk again.
Life seemed to be returning to normal and then, in the third term of her Grade Eight year, she contracted tuberculosis as a result of her compromised immune system.
She was weak and lost a lot of weight.
Again, she missed out on the last term of school and had to self-study to pass the year-end examinations.
Grades Nine to 11 were relatively straightforward, even though the doctors’ appointments were still regular and the medication still a daily routine.
She struggled with a slipped disc, which also required medical intervention.
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It seemed that she was heading toward remission and she was achieving excellent results academically, despite the fact that she had missed out on basic foundational concepts.
She rarely saw her challenges as stumbling blocks and chose to do nine subjects for matric.
In her matric year, she was elected as deputy head girl, a true indication that she wasn’t going to allow her past to determine her future.
However, in May of her matric year (2018), 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 were severely compromised as she had sustained a grade four 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,” she said.
“The one positive thing is that I could do matric with my younger sister.”
When asked what her plans are for her future Katie-Meg explained 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 learnt to trust my journey,” she said.
“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.”
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.
Assumption Convent School’s principal Neville Workman congratulated Katie-Meg on her 2019 matric results.
“Katie-Meg achieved an overall average of 81 per cent, this included 93 per cent for Afrikaans and 88 per cent for English,” said Workman.
“Katie-Meg epitomises true courage and generosity of spirit.
“She has left a very special legacy at Assumption Convent School.”
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Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Ashley Kiley (Journalist) ashleyk@caxton.co.za.
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