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<\/div>\nDurban \u2013 Like his hero Cristiano Ronaldo, Empangeni pupil Mxolisi Mthembu knows what it\u2019s like growing up poor, and achieving nonetheless.<\/p>\n
A keen soccer player himself, Mthembu scored the distinction of achieving the best marks for a pupil from a disadvantaged background.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Mthembu was among the top matriculants who gathered with KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala at Anton Lembede Mathematics & Science Academy in La Mercy, on Friday.<\/p>\n
For the pupil from Ikhandlela High School, Esikhaweni, his recipe was sheer hard work and determination. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be straight. You\u2019ve got to give yourself enough time to study,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 And tell yourself you can do it. You might come from a disadvantaged background, but you can do it\u201d.<\/p>\n
He tells of having no money for a uniform or study materials, and while he didn\u2019t have to walk kilometres \u2013 like some children \u2013 to school every day, he still had to walk.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
He praised his teachers who often provided the resources his family could not afford. \u201cMy maths teacher Mr Mtshali, he always gave me the things I needed to study. He almost forced me to try to beat the others,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mthembu’s headmaster, Lucky Sifiso Luthuli, beamed with pride at his pupil’s achievement.<\/p>\n
Mthembu is planning to study medicine at the University of KZN this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Of his role model Ronaldo, he said, \u201cEverything Ronaldo has is done is through hard work. Every time I look at him, that\u2019s what I think. If I work hard, I am going to reach the level I want to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n
He balanced his love of football with his studies. He\u2019s also a keen chess player. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt helped to balanced my life. I\u2019d come home from the pitch and be tired, but I knew I had to study, so I just knuckled down and studied,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The Independent on Saturday<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Durban \u2013 Like his hero Cristiano Ronaldo, Empangeni pupil Mxolisi Mthembu knows what it\u2019s like growing up poor, and achieving nonetheless. A keen soccer player himself, Mthembu scored the distinction of achieving the best marks for a pupil from a disadvantaged background. Mthembu was among the top matriculants who gathered with KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-918336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=918336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/918336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=918336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=918336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2022\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=918336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}