Having completed his primary education in the city, Lawrence, born in a family of teachers, attended his high school at a rural based catholic boarding school. In 2006, he completed his Ordinary levels with an unexpected pass. With confidence, Lawrence continued to do his A-levels, majoring in chemistry, physics, biology and pure mathematics. Over the course of two years, A-levels are complete by December 2008. The result, a dismal fail- no pass in any of the subjects.
Lawrence went on to be a temporary teacher in 2009, at 18 years old, teaching O-level biology- perhaps the family bloodline was seeking expression. It all started not make sense during this time as Zimbabwe had plunged into an economic crisis. The source of the problem, in his mind, was the flawed education system. He used unorthodox methods and delivered an 86% pass rate- which still stands as the best pass rate at the School to date.
By the end of 2009, the economic woes of the country were intensifying. This is when Lawrence moved to South Africa, re-enrolling in high school. Tuition fees was a clear problem and Lawrence solved it by working on weekends as a waiter. With this routine, December 2011, he graduated top of his class with four distinctions and an acceptance to the University of the Witwatersrand to study Civil Engineering. He fortunately could not afford the R30 000 tuition fees at the time and was forced to take a gap year in 2012.
Driven by purpose, he continued to work at the restaurant saving up for his academics. Most people around him did not believe he was going to study at this prestigious institution- moreover, the family had never had an engineer before. During this beautiful year, Lawrence was chosen by chemical engineering as the course of choice. By June of 2012, he was working at a call centre with the aim to raise more money for his education. In February 2013, Lawrence enrolled at the University of the Witwatersrand reading towards a Chemical engineering qualification. The pessimists continued to project doom as Lawrence, yet again, had to work as a waiter to sustain himself and cover his education.
During the first quarter of 2014, the pessimists were proving to be right and Lawrence had no funds to continue his education. It did not end there, his family was disintegrating too. Somehow, his mother managed to access a loan and settled registration fees for him to continue with school. By mid-year, regularly receiving debt reminders from the University, the family was finally broken. He was gutted. Immediately, the relationship with his father was strained and it only made sense for Lawrence to stand up and work more hours to afford his fees. In an uncoordinated manner, Lawrence traded school hours for work hours. His performance at school dove to its lowest and consequently failed the year. Despite the efforts, he did not pay up all tuition fees due for 2014.
Beginning of 2015, once again, the pessimistic theories were seemingly true. Without tuition fees, Lawrence’s journey was over. Lawrence walked with his mother to the bank to apply for a loan when, suddenly, his mother went into the alley and started crying. She knew she did not qualify for another load since the previous loan still had a pending installment. After a while, they proceeded to the bank and met an accountant, Decent Ndlovu. Decent went through hoops to find money for Lawrence’s mother and the loan was approved.
Lawrence enrolled at university, launched his first business Revise ‘n Learn Tutors (Pty) Ltd. solely to fund his tuition. Learning from history, he became a good planner, disciplined and had clarity in mind. He simultaneously run the business, attended school and worked at a restaurant for money. The year went by quickly and he had gained invaluable lessons. At peak, in 2016, the small company had over 30 employees with several projects running. Lawrence handed the company to a friend in 2017; his engineering final year. This strategic handover opened a pathway for Lawrence to focus on his qualification-choosing a path in the energy sector.
At the end of 2017, against all odds, Lawrence successfully completed his engineering qualification. He took the lessons developed during university and went on to work in the energy space between 2018 and 2019 leading to the birth of his own Project Management and Renewable Energy company- Lawrencium Energy (Pty) Ltd. Lawrence, today, is a certified Program Management Professional developing and implementing projects in Zimbabwe and South Africa. He is also pursuing an MBA with a school in the USA.
To sum it all, seeing his mother cry in an alley was a turning point. It gave birth to a resilient young man that has bravely challenged the status quo and works very hard to build a sustainable Africa with reliable and clean energy. The separation of my parents, was the best thing in my life.