Johannesburg – On the surface, Noah Tradonsky is your typical 18-year-old.
He chats with friends, plays indoor soccer twice a week, has a passion for acting, plays rugby and was student leader.
However, it’s been a rough ride for this recent King David Linksfield matriculant.
“At the age of six I was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome. To say the least, life was very tough growing up.
“The tics, the uncontrollable and involuntary movements of the body and face that came with the Tourette’s, made it hard to connect with others and find my space in school.”
The popular children at Noah’s school were the ones “with the harshest insults and the most heartbreaking remarks, usually directed at kids like me”.
“Kids are mean, but through years of struggles, it eventually hit me: I had a loving and caring family and they believed in me to find my path and create my own success story,” he said.
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One of the hardest things Noah remembered dealing with was calling his “so-called friends” on a Saturday afternoon, “asking if I could have an arrangement with them (hang out with them)”. “Each time I got rejected. I was told ‘there are too many people here’ or ‘he’s here and you and him don’t get along with him’,” he recalled.
“While I will never fully recover from the horrific insults I received as a kid, the strides that I have taken in high school to get actively involved and leave my mark on the school as well as my family’s support have helped make me into a happier and confident young adult.”
For Noah, it was his busy lifestyle that got him through school.
“Having a jam-packed schedule that included synagogue in the morning, then school, sports for two hours and taking part in debating or acting encouraged me to do well.
Noah achieved seven distinctions in his matric exams and will be spending his gap year in Israel where he plans to further his Jewish studies. On his return, he hopes to study a business related degree, either accounts or finance.