The art of surviving and thriving

Catching COVID-19 and falling behind with work is something no one wants in their matric year, but Hannah Jantjies overcame this challenge in her final year at Herzlia. Not only that, her art was exhibited in two exhibitions during the year.

“I joined Herzlia in the start of middle school, and it’s been an amazing five years filled with lots of opportunities,” she says. One of the highlights was being a part of the first cohort of a matric exhibition at the Zeitz MOCAA (Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa) in Cape Town.

“In March, a four-day workshop for matrics was hosted by the Zeitz MOCAA,” she says. “Between March and May, the group worked with museum staff to exhibit our work. The exhibition opened in July, and ended at the end of August. We enjoyed our time together, and it was a great way to network with matrics from other schools.” Jantjies was also part of a matric exhibition at the South African Jewish Museum for her final art mark.

But it was straight after the initial Zeitz MOCAA workshop that she contracted COVID-19. “My biggest challenge was catching up in term two. I took biology as one of my subjects. I began falling behind as I got overwhelmed and thought I could handle the stress by myself. However, asking for help is okay! That’s something I learnt the hard way.”

On top of it all, she began a committee called “Kids on the Block” to provide a safe space for students of colour at the school. “As a person of colour [POC], it was important for me for current and future POC students at Herzlia to have a community at our school.”

In her free time, she was a maddie at Netzer South Africa. “I learnt a lot about myself and the values of the movement. Netzer has given me learning tools for the outside world.”

Her favourite subject is art. “It’s been a part of my identity since I was young. I would love to have a career in the arts, whether it be photography, videography, music, visual art, or film.

“I also enjoyed biology in spite of my unfortunate low marks. I’ve always been interested in the body and the earth – specifically the human body. It improves self-appreciation because you learn about its potential to multitask. It’s absolutely brilliant.”

Her biggest matric achievement, she says, is “not giving up. Of course, matric isn’t easy. There were bumps along the way, and you fall behind, you lose momentum, and so on. You just have to get back up and believe in yourself. Have fun with the work. Search interesting videos on YouTube – there are a lot! Listen to podcasts or music, but try not to be on your device outside of school and studying. Limit your screen time, and enjoy the fresh air outside of assignments and studying.”

At Herzlia, “We have an amazing team of therapists that are willing to help when needed. Be kind to yourself and others, you never know what they are going through in that moment.”

In 2023, she will be going on Netzer’s Shnat gap-year programme in Israel, Poland, and the United States. “At the end of the year, I will be at my first summer machaneh as a maddie, which is exciting and an honour,” Jantjies says.

She envisions “doing something I really love while travelling and meeting people from around the world. Giving back to the community and people in need is also something I’ve been taught by my parents.”