Valerie Chinyoka: ‘I had to change my mindset about being at home’
The Rodean Senior School matriculant said her mother and teachers at school helped her cope in the previous year.
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Valerie Chinyoka, a matriculant from Rodean Senior School who achieved a total of 6 distinctions said the transition that came with the pandemic was not an easy one.
Chinyoka said adjusting to not being in the classroom was not easy especially during the last year when everything the pupils did counted the most for their end of year marks.
“Not being in the environment I was used to, to learn was difficult so I had to change my mindset about being at home,” she said.
She added that she rearranged her bedroom for her desk to be closer to the window to get some fresh air. She also wrote her notes on the mirrors with whiteboard markers and on the walls with chalk.
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The matriculant said having a bigger picture of the notes and diagrams really helped because she was a visual learner.
“Being a proactive student was important because it is easy for me to get distracted in the beginning so I had to work hard on sticking to my timetable,” she said.
The 18-year-old said her mother and teachers at school helped her cope in the previous year.
“My mother really helped me to focus during the final year. A resource that we can sometimes take for granted are the teachers but they were always there to discuss topics with me when they had time or talk about the progress I was making.”
She said even though the gym was prohibited during the pandemic, she continued with rock climbing.
“This kept me going because I could look forward to seeing my teammates every week and even though the workouts were tough, exercise was a great way to not only unwind but to look after my body as well.”
Chinyoka said she was interested in furthering her studies in Computer Sciences.
“Through doing IT at school, I found I really enjoyed it and would love to do it every day. I also think it is important to develop digital skills in this day and age because technology is advancing so quickly, but I would also like to find my own niche by combining my passion for fashion and technology to create a new field.”
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