Johannesburg - After breezing through his Grade 12 year with confidence, King Edward VII School top performer and fitness freak, Tyron Ruthel hit the gym to calm creeping nerves as the moment of truth drew closer.
Tyron has exceeded his expectations, scoring eight distinctions from his expected six. “I’m not nervous yet, but I probably will be later, I guess,” he said after a workout on Wednesday.
Asked how he found his matric year, he said: “I didn’t think it was any different to the previous years. There was all this hype leading up to it, people saying it’s the most difficult year. Obviously the work was a bit more demanding, but that’s how it is with every next grade.”
To avoid being too engrossed in his studies, he hit the gym frequently and read a lot of fantasy novels to calm down. “It gives me something else to do rather than school," he said.
“I got up quite early every morning to be at school at 6:30am, because I was also doing AP maths. After school I did sport and gym and then came home and relaxed a bit. I’d then do my homework and then pack for the next day.”
Tyron said he preferred doing his homework and studying late in the evening when everyone was asleep.
“I did a lot of past exam papers and I thought they were as difficult as the previous year’s. The exams were just fine,” he said.
After the exams, he said, he forgot about school in the first three weeks of his holidays, but admitted he got nervous as the results day drew closer.
The A-student plans to study actuarial science at Wits University.
“I’m studying actuarial science because I love maths – I love working with numbers. I have a natural talent for it, so I might as well put it to good use,” he said.
During weekends he didn’t do much. "I just lazed around the house and went to gym.
“I made sure that I was really well rested over the weekend, so I sometimes went out with friends and spent a lot of time on my TV game. I made sure I did most of my work during the week,” he added.