Pretoria - With 836 distinctions from its 345 matriculants, pupils and teachers screamed with delight and congratulated each other at Hoerskool Waterkloof, one of the country's top performing schools.
However, one boy sat alone, nervousness etched on his face. With everyone around him celebrating their distinctions and the school's 100 percent pass rate, Jan-Williem Hurter, or JW as his friends call him, was probably the only pupil at the school who did not yet know how he faired in the 2010 matric exams.
This despite his grandmother calling home early this morning and the SMSes from his friends that flooded his inbox.
"I have no idea how I did. I didn't want to buy the paper because I would be so disappointed if they got it wrong. I didn't want to hear about my results from my friends either, I wanted to see it for myself on my certificate," he told BuaNews.
JW even banned his parents from buying the newspaper. When his friends SMSed, he only read as far as 'congratulations' before putting his cellphone away and he turned down his teacher who offered him a copy of the newspaper.
He was hopeful that he would get seven distinctions, but admitted that he struggled with the exam papers for a few subjects.
But after hearing that his school had produced one of the best performances in the country, JW finally worked up enough courage to look up his name in the newspaper.
With a smile beaming on his face, JW said he had achieved what he wanted.
"Seven distinctions! I got what I hoped for. I'm very happy. I missed a distinction in accounting but I was expecting that," he said.
JW plans on studying for a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, with the intention of becoming a forensic chemist.
Fellow pupil Henri de Klerk, had to read the newspaper three times before he realised he had six distinctions.
"I could hear my mum and dad this morning. They were very excited. I had just woken up and couldn't really read my name in the newspaper. First I thought I had five distinctions. I counted three times before I realised it was six," he said.
Henri had been stressing about his mathematics mark and while he expected five distinctions, he had hoped for seven.
"When I was writing my exams, I accidentally left out a question that was worth 12 marks so I didn't expect to get a distinction for maths," he said.
Henri, who will be studying mechanical engineering, achieved distinctions in mathematics, science, Afrikaans, life orientation, economics and IT.
He will celebrate his results when he turns 18 in a few days, with a party planned to mark both milestones.
Henri will not be the only one celebrating. With 836 distinctions, the staff at Hoerskool Waterkloof was also in a celebratory mood.
Minnie Thom, head of academics, said the staff was extremely excited. "We hoped the pupils would perform this exceptionally, but we were not sure," she added.
Thom admitted that she was so anxious for her pupils that she barely slept and was up early on Thursday.
But there was no need to stress. For the 20th year, the school achieved a 100 percent pass rate.
She attributed the school's success to the dedication of the teachers, hard work put in by pupils and the support offered by parents.
