Covid-19 proved to be no match for Havenside teenager, Jordane Hannah Vartharajulu, as she went on to top the uMlazi District and was placed third in the province, all while recovering from the deadly virus prior to her trial examinations.
Vartharajulu, 17, said that for her, 2020 was one of the most challenging years of her life, thus far. “Last year was extremely taxing, mentally, because we had to exercise so much of self-control. We had minimal face-to-face contact teaching done in class so it was really easy to get distracted while studying from home. That is why I decided to make a study timetable and stuck to it strictly, I think this really helped me keep a routine,” she said. In October, Vartharajulu’s worst fear materialised when she contracted Covid while writing her National Benchmark Tests. She said: “I started feeling a few symptoms and immediately went into isolation because I did not want to infect anyone. This was a massive challenge for me because the medication made me very drowsy and tired all the time. I would take naps and wake up to study wherever I could because I did not want to miss out on my exams.”
According to Vartharajulu, her faith in God never wavered and she is now reaping the rewards of it. “This entire experience just taught me to trust in God. I was so scared, terrified actually. I did not expect to achieve these results, I prayed and studied so hard and thought I would just pass with the bare minimum but here I am. I passed, with six distinctions,” she said proudly.
The Southlands Secondary matriculant aced her accounting examination and passed her subjects including physical science, economics, pure maths, English and Afrikaans with flying colours, while taking AdMaths. The University of Cape Town can look forward to welcoming Vartharajulu this year as she will be completing her studies in Actuarial Science there. Vartharajulu’s parents, Beryl and Lawrence were ecstatic to have their daughter achieve such stellar results and wished her everything of the best in future. “It is with great joy and elation that we congratulate our daughter, Jordane Hannah, for achieving excellent results in the National Senior Certificate Examination. She has worked diligently and has been rewarded by being declared the top matriculant in the uMlazi District and achieving third position in Kwazulu-Natal. We are immensely proud of her accomplishment and would like to wish her success as she studies Actuarial Science at the University of Cape Town,” they said.
She advises this year’s matriculants to always put God first and while it is a stressful time for them, the late nights and early mornings will pay off.
