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Interview with Costa John – 1973
Costa remembers his first day with the fish pond at the entrance to the junior school which
seemed like a mystical treasure.
He enjoyed his school days, the structure and deep teacher engagement. As a day boy he
went home every day but felt that the boarders seemed to bond better.
Anne Buchan was a teacher who was caring, articulate, highly structured and inspirational.
He didn’t enjoy the corporal punishment which he felt was a troubling practice all the way to
matric.
He remembers an unhappy moment, confronting the school over incidents where his
brother’s poor Geography grade was made his problem, the next year, and later when his
younger brother was unfairly singled out for punishment.
A good memory was when he set a new school sprint record as an 11 year old when South
Africa went metric and all records were being set for the first time.
Costa enjoyed the sport and played soccer, cricket, rugby and was an athlete. There weren’t
any sports camps in those days. Costa was a member of C.L.G., the debating society,
Science club and 3rd team rugby.
The matric dance was a proud moment with beautiful decor, wonderful catering and was still
a black and white formal event. There was an all-night after party that ended the next
morning with many of the boys enjoying breakfast in Rosebank, still in tuxedos and evening
gowns!
Costa was elected head prefect in his matric year, received his honours blazer and scrolls
for Merit, Studies, and Debating and was awarded the victor ludorum..
His last day was poignant and he realised he would sorely miss the rich mosaic of academic,
sport, faith-based activities and the maturing phase from a child to a young man in the army..
After matriculating, Costa went into the army for a year then studied for a BCom and MCom
at Wits University followed by a Phd in the USA.
He is currently CFO of a San Franciso software company. He is a member of the Red Cross
disaster response team with service at Ground Zero (Terror attack) 2001, Katrina
(Hurricane) 2005, Joplin (Tornado) 2011.
Costa last visited St David’s in 2013 when he addressed a high school assembly.
JLE July 2013