Sundaymail Editor
Harmony Agere
TADIWANASHE Mavetera seems to be an unassuming young man, but there is actually a genius trapped within his dark and lanky frame.
The bespectacled 19-year-old is an academic prodigy who aced 10 As in last year’s Advanced Level exams, which is the best-ever accomplishment by a local learner, according to the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council (Zimsec).
If such an accomplishment is remarkable, then the 20 As he scored in his Ordinary Level exams are incredible.
It is only when one engages the young man in conversation that one begins to pick up peculiar traits of supreme intelligence and an erudite grasp of issues.
The Ruya Adventist High School learner notched the 10 As in Accounting, Mechanical Mathematics, Business Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Geography, Pure Mathematics, Statistics and Economics.
His performance has set tongues wagging.
However, a common question being asked is: Why did he torture himself studying 10 subjects when three – which are considered standard – would have sufficed?
“I made the decision to study 10 subjects at A-Level when I was in Form Three,” Mavetera told The Sunday Mail from the family home in Rockview, Ruwa.
“I told my headmaster that I was going to study 20 subjects at O-Level and 10 subjects at A-Level, and they thought I was joking then.”
His rigorous academic regimen, he said, was meant to prepare him to study Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering.
Most learners, including bright ones, usually struggle to study for the standard three subjects, but Mavetera devised a personalised study schedule that required him to read in total silence and solitude in order to cope with his punishing load.
The school authorities allowed him to remain in the hostels to study by himself while others went for lessons.
He would then go to the classroom area to continue studying into the early hours of the morning when others retired to the hostels for the night.
He said coping with so many subjects at A-Level was never going to be easy and meant he had to make sacrifices.
“Before the second term, my typical day was just like everyone else’s.
“I was doing 10 lessons and attending both morning and evening study sessions.
“I would use any free periods to study as much as possible. But during the third term, everything changed because I needed more time to study.”
“My teachers understood me and we worked out a study plan different from others,” he said.
“I needed to study in total silence and solitude and for this to work, my day was sort of inverted.
“When others were attending lessons during the day, I was studying at the hostels, and during the night, when others returned to the hostels, I would go to the classrooms to continue my studies.
“So, my third term was hectic; I would only get rest on Saturdays.
“It wasn’t easy, to be honest; it was a big challenge.”
Tragically, just weeks before sitting the exams, his mother suffered a stroke, threatening to throw into disarray a meticulously planned academic excursion.
He, however, refused to allow the misfortune to upset his goal.
He also always made it a point to socialise with his peers “because I was trying to avoid being a social outcast”.
“I was also the head boy, so I couldn’t afford to be isolated socially, because I had to lead and assist junior classes and my peers who needed help.”
Surprisingly, he also found time to participate in school sports.
“I was doing athletics, volleyball and other extra-curricular activities, and this helped me a lot.”
He would also resort to the Bible whenever the going got tough.
“Whenever I read the Bible, it would calm my thoughts and give me peace,” he added.
Mavetera hopes to secure a scholarship to study at an Ivy League university in the United States.
“I am just praying to get a scholarship from one of the top 10 universities in the world such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford or Harvard to do Quantum Physics and Nuclear Engineering.”
Mavetera, who is the first born child in a family of two, said his sibling, who is doing Form Three, is equally bright.
“Mom and dad were brilliant in school, too,” he said.
“In the extended family, I am told there are a lot of accomplished individuals – PhD holders and engineers. There was an astronaut as well.”
The boy’s mother, Mrs Elizabeth Mavetera, described him as a naturally gifted genius.
“He was always good. I remember, when we moved from South Africa, he couldn’t even speak Shona, but in two years he sat his Grade Seven exams and managed a first grade in the language,” she said.
“He has made us proud and going forward, we will try to support him with everything we can.”
Mavetera began his academic journey in South Africa, where he learnt up to Grade Five, before moving back to Zimbabwe.
In Zimbabwe, he attended Ralph Junior School to conclude his primary education.
He attained four units at Grade Seven.
Online Reporter