Eighteen-year-old, Mountview Secondary School matriculant, Nikita Govender was left astounded and elated after she ranked first in Quintile 4 for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the rest of South Africa.
Govender found out her outstanding results when she was called on stage to receive her award from the Minister of Basic Education on Thursday, 19 January, in Gauteng. She was once again honoured along side other matric top achievers on Friday, 20 January, at Bethsaida International Ministries in Southgate, Phoenix. Speaking to the Tongaat and Verulam Tabloid, Govender said she was elated by her results and was privileged to be acknowledged nationally. She said: “I surprised my family and myself. I did expect to do well because I was certain that all the efforts that I put into my matric year would pay off, but I did not expect to be acknowledged nationally which was a priviledge.
The toughest part of my matric year, aside from load shedding and the floods, was dealing with the pressure. There were moments where I felt overwhelmed which led to severe stomach cramps, but I was able to overcome this through the support of my family, friends and educators.” Govender said matric was not a battle that she faced on her own and that she is very grateful to everyone who encourage her and got her to where she is today. “I plan on studying medicine this year at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. I suffered a lot as a child with frequent hospital and doctor visits, and admired the way the doctors would help me and other children. I always wanted to do the same. As a very up and about person I want a career that keeps me active and comes with challenges for me to take on, so I want to specialise in surgery,” said Govender.
She advised the Class of 2023 to become motivated as she said the only person who can get you to your end goal is yourself. “Others can encourage you but it becomes your choice to believe them. Who is going to believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself? Do not bring yourself down for small mistakes and don’t let people bring you down. Use it to your advantage and build yourself up. “Confidence without character is dangerous and that is one of my favourite quotes. Someone with too much confidence and no character will be their own downfall but an equal balance will make a strong person. Be your own person and always strive to be a better you,” she said. Her proud mother, Daisy Govender said that she was extremely emotional and proud of her daughter’s achievements and knew that all her hard work would pay off.
She said: “I am an excited mum and very proud of Nikita, for everything that she has accomplished. It is definitely her hard work and dedication that finally paid off. We never expected this, she went above and beyond to prove how capable she is. We are truly proud of her.” Mountview Secondary School Principal, Mr IC Govender, said that he was also extremely proud of Nikita and wished her luck in her future plans.
“We are extremely proud of Nikita who despite the triple challenges of Covid-19, KZN unrest and the floods in the past three years, achieved an outstanding results. She has shown that hard work, a resilient approach to adversity and commitment can overcome any challenges. Congratulations to Nikita on being placed first in the country in Quintile 4 schools. We wish her well in her future endeavours,” Mr Govender. The UKZN bound medical students was also congratulated by DA Ward Councillor for Verulam, Johnson Chetty who said Govender has made the community proud with her exemplary results. He said: “I am ecstatic that a learner from my ward has attained such spectacular results. Nikita Govender has done Verulam proud. She has excelled in her academic and scholastic career throughout her life, and this accolade is rightfully deserved.” Cllr Chetty added that he is also very proud of Mountview Secondary for producing a learner who has achieved distinctions in all her subjects. “It is evident that all it takes is dedication and a commitment to succeed, and the sky is the limit. I wish to congratulate Nikita on her superb performance and wish her success in her tertiary studies as well,” he said.
