St David's Newsletter - 11 November 2016

Procrastination is a killer and it usually kicks in during the upcoming weeks to exams. It helps to get an early start on things with an overview that’ll give you the perfect idea of the work load required.

Step 1 The best plan of action would be to design a study timetable where you fill in days for studying and days for writing. Planning your life is the first step to getting ahead of the game.Now that you have your study timetable, you know exactly what to study and the time frame to do it in.

Step 2 is to compile all your notes, prepared and summarised to a way that appeals to you. This should be done with no less than a week till your first exam.The hard times of slaving away at your desk compiling notes is done.

It’s now time for Step 3: Revise, Revise, Revise. Look over those beautifully crafted notes of yours and get that information in your brain. Once you have the basic idea of the work, it’s time to put it to the test through past papers.

Step 4: Practice makes Perfect. Do a couple papers open book – and by that I mean take a quick crack at a question and double check only after your attempt at the memo’s answer. After about two open book papers per subject, try to give past exams a try under test conditions and get them marked. This should give you a great idea of what the big exams feel like and give you an idea of what you’re walking into

Step 5: Is getting prepared for the exams and this requires plenty of sleep and a good breakfast. You require your full concentration and don’t want to doze off mid-exam or feel hunger pains during a tough math problem.

Transition from the US to SA by Anthony Mutzuris Gr 10

“God bless the United States of America!” After being taken half way across the world, knowing no one and having no family in the States, I never knew I could relate to such a patriotic American cliché. In October of 2013, my dad’s work seconded him to Houston, Texas, United States - this meaning that my entire life up until that point would literally be half a world away. Initially, as suspected, it was tough. New friends, culture shock and huge portions of food- because as I would soon learn, everything is bigger in Texas.

My time in the US seems fairly inexplicable - on the one hand I was just an ordinary teenager attending school trying to balance social responsibilities with academic and athletic ones, much like my life in South Africa. On the other hand, however, I was in a completely different world consisting of cafeterias, American football teams, pep-rallies and homecoming dances, unlike in South Africa. Though, not my entire experience was spent confirming stereotypes picked up from endless movies about the typical American high school experience… For one, attending an international school reduced the need for cliques - my time overseas broadened my horizons with regard to socialising with people of different races, religions, ethnicities and so much more. My closest friends had spent their lives in four, five and even six different countries over their lifetimes, making my “Greek, South African moving to the US” story seem rather amateur-like. I learned, in depth about American history, and was able to experience Thanksgiving alongside Guy Fawkes Day and Halloween alongside Diwali. Although small, being exposed to such a range of different traditions, was able to expand the scope of my experiences and inevitably give me a newfound level of respect for different traditions. This would certainly be in my favour back in The Rainbow Nation I grew up in.

Fast forward to the 4th of July 2016, the most American holiday that I can think of and the eve before my first return to South Africa since leaving. Although I was born here, Houston in a brief three years was able to steal Jozi’s place as “home”. Yes, we were all excited to be seeing our family and friends, who we’d only had contact with through Facebook, Instagram and endless hours on Facetime. But, change is ALWAYS hard, as I learned a little under three years ago. My mind raced with questions - is it going to be hard to transition back into my old life? Will I ever go back to Houston? Most importantly, will the wifi in South Africa be as good as it is in America? My first week back in South Africa, I felt like somewhat of a celebrity, all my friends whom I had known from as early as pre-primary school came to visit, it was great. I was bombarded with questions about America. Parents would ask, “Are you excited to be back?”, teachers would ask, “How was the education system?” and of course my friends would ask “What were the American girls like?” All these questions were fairly basic considering the questions some Americans had asked me about South Africa, ranging from the rare, “South Africa huh? But which country in Africa?” to the more common, “Are there lions roaming around the streets?”

After the initial super-stardom of returning had settled down, reality hit me. I was in a completely different world, once again. I had transitioned well the first time, but how was I going to go from a fairly liberal, international school in America, to an all-boys institution such as St David’s? After heavily stalking the Instagram page of the school, I was eager to be part of “Inanda Pride” legacy and the prestige that would come with it. Although here in South Africa I do not have a foreign accent to boost my acclaim unlike I did in the US, similarly to the US, I vision to better myself through the school and community service, sports, cultures and academics. I also believe that the religious ethos that the school instils will ground me and further enable me to broaden my horizons.

After a brief five months, I am elated to say that Johannesburg has reclaimed its title as “home” to myself and my family. Houston was truly as once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will forever be thankful for, but being at a school that enables me with so many opportunities and room for growth, I have realised coming back “home” was better than I expected it to be. Even if the wifi is horribly slow.

Procrastination is a killer and it usually kicks in during the upcoming weeks to exams. It helps to get an early start on things with an overview that’ll give you the perfect idea of the work load required.

Step 1 The best plan of action would be to design a study timetable where you fill in days for studying and days for writing. Planning your life is the first step to getting ahead of the game.Now that you have your study timetable, you know exactly what to study and the time frame to do it in.

Step 2 is to compile all your notes, prepared and summarised to a way that appeals to you. This should be done with no less than a week till your first exam.The hard times of slaving away at your desk compiling notes is done.

It’s now time for Step 3: Revise, Revise, Revise. Look over those beautifully crafted notes of yours and get that information in your brain. Once you have the basic idea of the work, it’s time to put it to the test through past papers.

Step 5: Is getting prepared for the exams and this requires plenty of sleep and a good breakfast. You require your full concentration and don’t want to doze off mid-exam or feel hunger pains during a tough math problem.

Mini City Council