‘Consistent work’, says Meltzer, Redhill’s first Dux scholar

Redhill School matriculant Ronan Meltzer achieved an International Baccalaureate (IB) result of 43 points out of 45, a massive achievement in the international community.

These results place Meltzer, who was also head of Judiciary at the school, among the top tier of IB students worldwide, and earned him the distinction of being Redhill’s first IB Dux scholar, a new tradition that honours the school’s top-achieving IB students.

“I feel relieved that my hard work paid off, but I also have a deep sense of gratitude to my family, my amazing Redhill teachers, and Executive Head Joseph Gerassi and the whole Redhill leadership team who supported me the whole way,” Meltzer says. “Without them, this wouldn’t have been possible.”

Meltzer says consistent studying was the secret for his good results. “I worked every day from Grade 11 as if my finals were the next week. Also, like I said, the most important aspect, the support system I had, truly was such a blessing.

“Consistency was one of the biggest challenges I faced,” he says. Some of the highlights of his matric year were “exploring maths with others; being part of the Redhill Judiciary; playing rugby; and just enjoying time with friends at school”.

Meltzer was voted head of Judiciary to mediate political debate on campus and encourage dialogue. “To do so, we held various panel discussions for the students of the school on contemporary social issues, inspiring critical thought and dialogue.”

Meltzer was also a dedicated maths tutor, both within the school and in the community at large. “I have always had a passion for maths, and I wanted to explore this love with other people,” he says. He founded and led the maths tutor group that tutored child patients at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital and Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

“We the tutors and the children were able to form a community in which maths was no longer the reason we came together, it was a bond in which we shared our love for music, discussed recent soccer games, or even just chatted about what was going on in our lives,” Meltzer says.

Meltzer is researching universities locally and abroad. “I plan to study applied maths and I’m excited to see where it will take me,” he says.