A Durban matriculant who achieved 11 distinctions in 2017's IEB examinations says she dreams of being an astronaut.
"It might just be a phase, but I have learnt about and read about the requirements for the European space station the past few days and thought it would be cool to be an astronaut," Agnes Gosnell, 18, told News24.
"To drift between the stars and explore space would be amazing."
Gosnell, of Crawford College La Lucia in Durban, with a 100 percent Bachelor degree pass rate, said she didn't believe she did particularly well.
"I knew I passed and would get university acceptance, but that was about it."
Gosnell said her key to success was to not change her routine for matric, but to carry on as normal.
"Don't try too hard to the point where you stop living," she emphasised.
Gosnell, whose mother originally comes from Germany, plans to head to Germany this year, where she is set to study Mathematics and stay with family.
"Education in Germany is free, so I am grabbing the opportunity to study there," Gosnell explained.
"That's why I think South Africa's decision to move to free education is a step in the right direction, but we'll see how it gets implemented."
While she says she is going to "really miss school," she is excited about exploring the world.
"I want to live as an expat all over the world: explore, travel and experience everything."
However, she has promised to return to South Africa.
"I am sure I will return, I love this place," Gosnell said.
"There's no place more beautiful; no place which excites as much as South Africa."