Hoërskool Florida learner, Lebogang Mathukwi, is the very first learner at the school to be one of the finalists for the online mathematics competition. The final will take place at Hoërskool Florida, on Saturday, 27 July.
Speaking to the Record, Lebogang said he is very excited with how things are coming along and he wishes to represent his school well.
The competition is an Afrikaans online maths competition that started last year. After the first competition, the organisers received many requests for it to be opened to primary school learners in Grades 6 and 7 as well.
The preliminary rounds for primary learners were held on 3 May, while the high school elimination rounds took place on 10 May.
Lebogang said it all started last year when he was in Grade 11. He studies normal maths, but has an additional subject, namely Advanced Programme (AP) maths.
“My AP maths teacher found out about the competition last year and asked me if I wanted to do it and I agreed. I entered the competition but I did not get through because of my marks. My teacher found out that I was the student who obtained the highest mark at the school, with 40 per cent,” said Lebogang.
He added that giving up is not part of his vocabulary, so he tried again this year, and everything just fell into place.
“When I entered for the second time, I did not expect much because my mark was 50 per cent on the dot and I thought I was probably not through. I had two days off due to exams and when I finally went back to school, I was told that I’d made it into the finals. I could not believe it,” he added.
Maths is his favourite subject; he said he loves it because of its challenges, and always having to find new ways of thinking. He explained that it is not always the same thing.
He said trying to balance everything out is not easy, but he tries to complete his homework on the day it is given to him so that he can focus on assignments and everything else.
“I just told myself that this year I am going to focus on my academics and nothing much else. That is why I chose not to do any extramural activities. This decision was taken because I know that this term’s marks will be used to determine whether I get a place at university or not,” said Lebogang.
The very excited Lebogang said he is very content with the marks he achieved for his first maths paper, and he is already preparing for his AP maths paper which he writes on Friday, 14 June.
“I will be going to school just to get extra lessons, because I want to ace it.”
He said he was very surprised to be a finalist and still doesn’t quite believe it.
“I am honoured to be one of the finalists because I am the first person from my school to make it this far. Now it’s all about preparing and making sure that I am ready for the finals. I have asked my teacher for previous math papers so I can revise, and she gave me as many as she could,” he added.
Lebogang has dubbed these upcoming school holidays as an Olympiad holiday.
