16 DAYS UNTIL DECEMBER - PART 1

"Sometimes I ask myself", said Monica, "why do we have to go to school? Why is it so important because all we do all day is classwork? We get shouted at, sent out of class, we get tons of homework and the worst of all, detention. School is just a waste of time!", she exclaimed.

Monica Johnson wasn't very fond of school at all. In fact, she always complained to her friends about how school is so bad and how she would die if she had to repeat the same grade all over again the following year. 

St. Peters College is one of the best schools in the Gauteng province. It seemed quite obvious why Monica hated school so much.  It was because she was repeating the same grade again this year after her poor performance. all her friend had passed the grade and she was the only one who stayed behind having to face the same teachers all over again.

Monica was not very keen on going to school anymore, but this year she was determined to study very hard and pass, rather than repeat the same grade again. Her worst nightmare was her Maths teacher Mr Peterson - who looked big and scary. He always asked her all the hard questions which she couldn't answer, just to embarrass her in front of the entire class.

The history class was very boring, it made Monica fall asleep and for that, she always got detention while her friends, on the other hand, enjoyed every moment of their studies.

Monica arrived home that afternoon and went straight to her room. Knowing that their English teacher wants them to recite a poem in class every Monday which she had given them on Friday. Every student received a different poem to memorise over the weekend and Monica happened to get the longest and most complex in the entire class.

Monica got into her room, took out her English poetry book and started reading her poem out loud like she was reading a speech to a full auditorium. Her mother tried to call her downstairs, but Monica didn't hear a single word to a point her mother got frustrated and went marching upstairs while mumbling to herself, "That young girl had better have a good explanation for her rude behaviour!" 

As she opened the door she was shocked to see her daughter busy with her schoolwork for the first time in months.

Monica stopped reading as soon as she realised her mother was starring at her, "What's wrong mother, sore throat?", Monica asked, "I was just calling you downstairs to come and help me prepare supper, I am just surprised to see you learning for a change. By the way, what are you reading?", her mother asked.

"Oh mom, is it so surprising to see a person learning? It's just a poem that the teacher gave me to memorise for Monday and as I am not good at memorising, I am singing it out loud so that I can remember it like a song as I am good at that. Sorry for not hearing you, just give me 10 minutes and I will be down", replied Monica

Although Monica couldn't memorise most of her other schoolwork, it seemed as if she was making good progress on the poem; her strategy of singing out the poem really came in handy.

Monica liked music, especially R&B and Hip Hop, more than anything. Whenever she studied, she always played music up loud and that's one of the reasons she didn't do well in school. the only thing she could remember was the songs she listened to while studying.

At the dinner table that night, Monica's mother got very curious," Monica honey, what changed your mind about studying with music?", Monica answered, "I don't understand you, parents, sometimes. Is it weird to see someone studying for a change?", "No, it's just that I've never seen you study like this before, I thought you hated doing schoolwork?", Monica's mom asked.

"Mom, I know what I said about school, but repeating the same grade is very embarrassing and not part of my plans. So I have decided to at least do my schoolwork and pass rather than repeating again".

Monica spent the entire weekend reciting and practising her poem at home. Her friends even wondered where she might be. By Sunday Monica could say her poem without referring to the book.

On Monday at school during lunchtime, Monica was sitting with her three friends listening to them boast about their maths teach - how he's so cool and "sexy". Monica felt left out because she wasn't in the same class or grade as they were, so she just stood up and went to sit in the English class. Her friends were left wondering what was bugging her, but they didn't bother going after her.

Once lunchtime was over, it was time for the students to recite the poems they had learnt over the weekend. Soon came Monica's turn to share her piece which she did with such passion and confidence. Their teacher was very impressed and also surprised to see Monica doing so well.

To be continued