Tragedy and triumph for dux scholar

When Josh Kahn, a Reddam House Bedfordview 2023 matriculant, was ranked tenth academically at the end of his first term of Grade 8, he told himself that by the end of his high school career, he would try his best to get that number-one spot.

Not only has Kahn achieved that goal, he was also awarded the Dux Scholar Award for 2023, achieving nine distinctions.

“When I was at the bottom of the ranking in that first term in Grade 8, it motivated me to keep working so that I could try to get to that top spot,” said Kahn. “I was never extremely academic, but I kept on working to meet my goals every year. My goal this year was to get the Dux Scholar Award. I worked harder than any other year to achieve this goal”.

This achievement didn’t come without some challenges as it seemed to Kahn that at every important moment in his matric year, tragedy seemed to follow. At the end of his Grade 11 year, Kahn’s grandmother passed away. This was followed by the death of his grandfather at the start of matric during a week of intense testing. A close family friend then died during Kahn’s June examinations, and at the start of his final exams, Kahn fell ill. “All of this made it hard to stay on track,” Kahn told the SA Jewish Report.

When Kahn wasn’t studying, he spent his time doing Taekwondo, where he became a national champion through Andre’s Ultimate Taekwondo Academy in his Grade 11 year, and achieved Gauteng colours. Kahn also dedicated himself to serving his community throughout high school. He completed more than 1 600 hours through river clean ups, street clean ups, and spending time at Bunnyhop Haven and old age homes. Kahn also won the Concours D’Arts for animation and design overall for his age group in Grade 11 and 12 for animations he made during the year.

Kahn intends to study actuarial science at the University of the Witwatersrand this year.