Twins Amanda and Michael Chilinkhwambe have attributed the combined 13 distinctions they bagged to the emotional support they gave each other last year.
The 17-year-old twin from Pretoria East are being celebrated among the top achievers at Maragon Mooikloof High School after the class of 2021 from the Pretoria private school scored a 100% pass rate.
Amanda obtained eight distinctions to be the top matric at her school. Her subjects are accounting, Afrikaans (first additional language), business studies, English (home language), life orientation, mathematics, advanced programme mathematics and physical science.
Michael got five distinctions – in dramatic arts, physical science, life sciences, mathematics and life orientation.
Amanda said she is excited about getting distinctions in all her subjects. Her highest mark was 96% in business studies and mathematics.
“I am very relieved. It has been a long time waiting for the results. I was nervous but finally the weight has been lifted off our shoulders,” Amanda said.
She said she was grateful to Michael for helping her throughout her matric year.
“We have been supportive of each other. Our desks were next to each other in class. We were each other’s cheerleaders. He (Michael) helped me to relax and calm down when the pressure of our studies was getting too much.”
Amanda’s exceptional performance was not without its challenges as she told Sowetan about a time she had to prepare for an exam in the dark.
“We had load-shedding at home the night before our English paper 1 exam. We had no power for at most two hours. Fortunately for me, I had a flashlight which I used to go through the papers I was working on,” said Amanda.
Similarly, Michael expressed his joy over the distinctions he obtained, 89% in life orientation being his top mark.
“I am relieved. I believe I put my hardest [effort in] this year. It is nice to see my hard work and effort pay off. I thank God for giving me the motivation to succeed,” said Michael.
“I credit my twin sister for the emotional support she gave me. We went through the year together, studied together and celebrated each other. We would constantly check up on each other and ask one another 'are you OK? Are you stressed?' We would calm each other down and vent with each other.
“She (Amanda) is my best friend and main support system. I do not know what I would do without her. We shared notes and explained subject concepts to each other. There was never a competition amongst ourselves. It was all about helping each other.”
Michael said using past exam question papers also helped a lot.
The Chilinkhwambe twins also expressed gratitude to their parents for driving them to and from school for night classes.
“Our teachers did more than just teach us. They would check up on us and just after a class would end they would ask you 'are you OK? Are you coping?' They paid attention to our mental health,” said Amanda.
Michael wants to study medicine at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University this year and Amanda wants to study actuarial sciences at the University of Cape Town.
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