ARUNDALE School student Jade Wadyajena, 19, has scooped a whopping six accolades after passing her 2023 Cambridge Advanced Level with flying colours, scoring 15 points in Arts.
The girl, who is the daughter of a former Nembudziya legislator Justice Mayor Wadyajena, was studying English Language, Literature in English and History.
Speaking to the Daily News yesterday, Wadyajena said it has always been her dream to study law in order to advance the interests of disadvantaged young people.
“I have always been single-minded in my aspiration to become a family lawyer, in particular representing the interests and rights of disadvantaged children and young people or to take up digital currencies and financial engineering.
“I knew that to qualify for a competitive programme, I would need to have strong A Level results, and work on being a well-rounded high achiever, at par with the students at Oxford, Durham, Harvard and other schools of that ilk,” she said.
She added that her success was partly after her realisation that coming from a political family was not going to help her in school.
“I put my head down and focused on my academic and personal development. I was just uncompromising in my determination and I’m elated about what I’ve achieved. I am indebted to my incredible parents and to the wonderful staff at Arundel School who were exacting, supportive and nurturing.
“Many of the results I’ve seen this year are testament to the fact that Zimbabwe still maintains extremely high educational standards and produces students who can compete at a global level. We are very grateful to the government in that regard.
“This is just the beginning for me, I am hoping to go on to read law at either Oxford or Durham which have superlative undergraduate law programmes and I’m thoroughly excited about my future and reaching my very highest academic potential – even possibly following in the footsteps of my father who is currently pursuing a PhD. I’m certain I’ll surpass him,” said Wadyajena.
The whiz kid appealed to younger learners to always know that studying for public examinations went beyond what is taught in the classroom.
“Be curious and read widely. But above all else it’s discipline and consistency that ultimately get you over the line.
“More generally, young people who want to make something of themselves need to stay away from drugs, alcohol and other illicit substances – including the premium stuff which often goes unnoticed.
“Here, I implore the authorities to intervene as these two vices are decimating so many young lives,” she said.
The school honoured her with a number of awards, including being the best in History, English Language, Literature in English as well as non-academic prizes such as the Catherine Stevenson Cup for perseverance, library shield for being the school’s head librarian.
