Alumni

James Clark



Studying – Veterinary Medicine and Surgery

When – September 2021 to September 2026

Where – University of Liverpool

My goal to becoming a Veterinary Surgeon started in 2017 while completing a grade 9 Life Orientation project at Pecanwood College. This project called for work experience of a profession you would be interested in pursuing and I spent some time with a local vet. I then continued to work every holiday, without knowing this experience would be a key part of my university application in the future. After 3 years of hands on experience I finished school in the midst of a pandemic and online schooling, to achieve my IEB matric. I applied to multiple Universities in the United Kingdom, and I was unconditionally accepted into the University of Liverpool.

University in the UK only starts in September, as such I had 8 months to wait before university started. I managed to get a Job with the local Vet practise in Botswana called VetPro Specialists. I have been working at VetPro for 6 months now doing 55 hours a week and the experience that I have gained has only solidified my dream to become a Veterinary Surgeon. Luckily for me Botswana has a chronic shortage of Veterinarians and as such Vet nurses/assistants, so while at VetPro I have been trained to become a Vet assistant. This training has more than adequately prepared me for the practical aspect of Vet school, and I can’t wait to start in September. 

The Nel Family USA journey

We left South Africa and everything we knew and loved in September 2018 when our son Ethan was mid way through Grade 10 in the High School at PWC and our daughter Madison mid way through her Grade 7 and final year in the PWC Prep School.

We needed to spend close to 4 months in Grenada in the Carribean as part of our visa requirements. There we quazi home schooled the children with local tutors helping them to understand the US school curriculum. Although it looked to many to be paradise it was tough on our children who had little to no social interaction with peers, had to be self disciplined, learn on their own and try to figure out the US schooling system.

We arrived in December of 2018 and the children began their US schooling in January. Ethan went mid-way into his "Sophomore Year" 10th Grade at a private catholic school and Madison went into the middle of the final year 8th Grade of the US Public Middle School program. Madi found the school really tough, not the school work but the social interaction. She had left behind a large, close and very special group of friends at PWC and knew no one, for six months she had to dig deep. 

Ethan has now graduated from High School after spending the last 18 months on line due to the Covid19 pandemic. Despite this and all the changes he achieved a 3.8 GPA (equal to an A Matric) AP and Honors classes being taken back to back to get him where he needed to be after his late start into the US educational system, a 1440 on his SAT exam (placed in the 97th percentile in the US). During a highly impacted year of College applications he was accepted to three of the top Computer Science Colleges in California and will be attending the prestigious UC Santa Cruz to study a Computer Science degree in the Fall of 2021.

Madison has completed her Sophomore Year 10th Grade and will start as a Junior, 11th Grade in the Fall at San Clemente High School. Despite changing schools three times in two years she has achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA score. She has been part of the Cheer Squad and despite huge adjustments socially now has a close, supportive and special group of friends. Madi plans to do a Marketing Degree at an in-state University when she graduates High School in 2023.

We cannot thank Pecanwood College enough for the IEB system and the incredibly high level of education our children were privileged to receive during their seven and a half years at PWC. This foundation was paramount in them not just adjusting but flying in the US education system. The dedication, passion and commitment of all the teachers at PWC set them up to succeed not just in their education but as respectful and highly moraled individuals who the teachers in the US cannot not praise enough. 

We will forever be grateful for each and every staff member at Pecanwood College who were each uniquely responsible for shaping and resulting in the incredible and resilient young adults we have today in the USA.

Ethan still fondly talks about his two favorite teachers of all time Mr. Nainar and Mr. Baines. That's the profound effect PWC teachers have had on our children.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts we are forever indebted to you all. God bless.