Al-Qalam 
By Azra Hoosen
Abdullah Abisola, a multi-talented grade 10 pupil of Al Falaah College in Durban, won first place in the “2022 South African National Science Olympiad” this month. He is now preparing to participate in the 19th Annual International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) in Columbia next month.
Abdullah Abisola told Al-Qalam that he attributes his success to the power of Dua.
“I always tell myself that whatever I do, I will make the best effort to achieve the best results. Nerves only appear due to uncertainty and ill-planning, so I try to eliminate these things through proper preparation. For me, there is no weapon greater than the power of Dua. It’s important to tell myself that whatever results or occurrences happen I will always be grateful, therefore during times of ease and difficulty, my feelings are the same,” said Abisola.
Students wrote two main Olympiads – Physics and Biology – with less than 2-weeks to prepare.
“The test itself really rattles your brain; it was quite tough. The Olympiad was a three-hour-long multiple-choice question test which is used as a benchmark test to select the best students from amongst all students across the country to compete at an international level,” Abisola explained.
Abisola will represent South Africa at the 19th Annual International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) which is scheduled to take place from the 2nd to 12th December 2022, in Bogota, Columbia this year.
The IJSO is an individual and team competition in the Natural Sciences for students aged 16 and under, which will see over 60 countries from around the world participating. Hundreds of exceptional learners will be competing to take home gold medals for their country.
“It is kind of like the Olympics for us learners,” said Abisola.
The educational event aims to promote and reward the pursuit of excellence in scientific endeavour, to challenge, stimulate and encourage gifted students to further develop their talents in Natural Sciences and provide a platform for participating schools to compare the syllabi and educational trends in science education.
“I feel ecstatic and grateful that I have been granted this opportunity by Allah to participate in such a grand event. Apart from physical preparation, there will be mental preparation because I will be travelling to a foreign country which I’ve never done before, so I am excited to see new faces, make new connections and just enjoy my time there,” he added.
Abisola has a gruelling and challenging month ahead of him as he prepares for the International Junior Science Olympiad and his end-of-year school examinations.
“The IJSO is an international Olympiad on a big scale, therefore the syllabus is extremely vast. The topics range from Grade 10 to 1st year university level work, so a lot of focus is required to familiarise myself with it. I plan on dedicating 4-5 hours to study new and old concepts and going over all of IJSO’s past year papers. Obviously, I would have to start studying for Term 4 exams a bit earlier than expected in order to create time for my IJSO studies,” Abisola explained.
Abisola also triumphs in soccer, basketball and in the dojo.
“Alhamdulilah, I have achieved a lot thus far, such as: winning National and Regional AMS, coming out first in the country for the Siyavula Mathematics competition, creation and publication of an online website and starting up a small business known as ResTech, which is growing steadily. Being a Hafiz is probably the best achievement of my life and I strive to maintain my Hifz, and plan to learn the translation one day, Insha’Allah,” said Abisola.
Abisola is passionate about Biology and Computers which is why he has his heart set on studying medicine, whilst self-studying Computer Science.
“I see a lot of potential in the study of science because it is the discovery of Allah’s creation. My choice to study medicine was greatly influenced by my parents because I saw how they assisted and helped people. Them saving lives and assisting sick families, sparked an urge in me to want to do the same,” he said.
Looking ahead, Abisola’s vision for his future includes – attending a good university, helping others through a medical profession, as well as continuing to work with his colleagues at ResTech, creating apps to revolutionise the world using NFC technology.
