Lebogang’s journey – in her own words

When I left Inchanga Primary School after being awarded a bursary at Hillcrest High School I had no idea that my life was headed for a complete makeover. In 2016 when I started grade 8 at Hillcrest High School I was just a tiny little girl with no idea or any clue of what this new school was like. It was completely different from what I was used to, a whole new environment and there was a lot that I still needed to learn and do in order to fit in. The uniform was different, there were people with coloured blazers and some with plain blazers just like me. Some with white shirts and others with blue shirts and I made it my priority to want to fit in with those with blue shirts and coloured blazers.

For the first two years at Hillcrest High School I found it hard to adjust academically, simply because I was not used to the way students were being taught. Classes were different and the teachers were also different compared to what I was used to at Inchanga Primary School. One thing that I sure did manage was to make a lot of friends, mainly from the sports field. I joined the netball team and the soccer team. I could say that’s where I built my profile and started being known, because I managed to be awarded the Most Valuable U16 Netball player.

After four years of being at Hillcrest High School I finally managed to fit in. My academics started picking up and I got awarded with Half Colours Academics. Finally my blazer had a bit of colour but it wasn’t what I wanted and I still had the white shirt. My next goal was working towards getting the blue shirt in my final year and a full red tailored blazer. I applied to be a Prefect towards the end of the year in 2019, knowing that 2020 was my final year and I needed to make a mark.

In 2020 I made it into the Student Leadership Team (a prefect) and I finally got the blue shirt. Just when everything was starting to light up, Covid-19 happened, but I did not give up because I was so close to the end of the tunnel. I worked hard and in September of 2020 I was awarded with Full Colours Academics and finally my blazer was tailored in red.

I can proudly say that my journey since I left Inchanga Primary School was a worth while course. I got to grow as a person mentally, spiritually and psychologically. I gained life skills that are going to help me for the rest of my life. I met wonderful people some of whom I would have never met had I not gone to Hillcrest High School. I may have not grown physically because I’m still that tiny little girl but one thing that I know for sure is that I’m not the same tiny little girl I was in 2016.