Durban - Having achieved seven distinctions in his National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric exams, Lesego Sithole is proof that if you set your mind to something and diligently work towards your goals you will indeed succeed.
Sithole began his schooling journey at St Stithians Boys’ College as a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed grade eight student in 2016. His mother found out about the Student Sponsorship Programme (SSP) scholarship when he was in grade four and Sithole set his mind to doing everything possible to be given this opportunity. He was one of three thousand young students who applied for the scholarship and was selected to attend St Stithians Boys’ College along with few others.
Academics formed a major part of Sithole’s life. He achieved the Dux Scholar each year throughout his time at the college and believes that there were several things that set him apart from his peers. He never took grade eight and nine academics lightly and worked as hard as he could, ensuring that he had an impeccable work ethic. In addition, he surrounded himself with like-minded students, who would push him to do better and he learned to allow himself to fail from time to time and treated failure as a learning opportunity.
He was involved in a vast array of activities and soon discovered a passion for culture and music. He also attended two overseas tours with the Duke of Cornwall Singers, one in grade eight as a member of the Boys’ College Choir and one in grade 11 where he became an integral member of the dukes. The tours gave Sithole exposure to places that he never imagined he would see and experience.
Sithole credits a lot of his success to the support that he received throughout his time at the college from families and staff members from the school and boarding house. He is grateful for the close relationships that were formed and describes his final year in the boarding house as a highlight of his school career. He loved boarding and believes it set him up for life after school as he is far more independent than he would have been without being exposed to the responsibilities associated with boarding.
In his matric year, he became the deputy head and faced several challenges related to Covid-19. However, he describes it as interesting and says he knew that he had to adapt and redefine the role of deputy. Sithole soon discovered that he had to be interactive with and supportive of students, as opposed to performing more of an administrative role that that the position traditionally required.
He is grateful for the learning opportunities that Covid-19 created, particularly when it came to learning how to manage people from a distance and ensure that they were doing what needed to be done.
His future plans look exciting as he has applied for an Allan Gray scholarship to study actuarial science at the University of Cape Town.