– North West’s Mark Wilburg’s mom says of his eight Grade Ones

DESCRIBED by his mother as gifted academically, Mark Wilburg’s success at the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination came as no surprise to his family, although they were nervous in the hours leading up to the release of the results.

Wilburg, a former student of the North West Secondary School, is the top performer at the CSEC examinations for Region One (Barima-Waini).

The quiet 17-year-old, the youngest of four children, attained passes in 11 of 12 subjects at the examinations, among them English ‘A’ and ‘B’, Mathematics, Social Studies, Integrated Science and Agriculture Science.

He attained Grade One passes in eight subjects, a feat he attributed to his strict preparation for the examinations.

Now holidaying in Georgetown, Mark told the Guyana Chronicle that while extra lessons, as well as long hours of studies were among the main contributors to his success, he could not have done it without the support of his family.

According to his mom, his older brother, Nathan, who’s a teacher at Bishops’ High, helped with past test papers and the occasional advice, as did his other siblings.
“A lot of people helped me,” Mark said, adding: “I have to thank my brothers who assisted me throughout the process.”

He said that having understood what the workload would entail, the challenge was to ensure he covered the syllabus for each subject area.

Wilburg noted that the school offered the subjects he wrote, and while there was a small hiccup with the exchange of teachers for a business subject during the latter years at school, he praised the efforts of his teachers. These teachers included Sir Uri Broomes and his family, whom he noted provided him with valuable advice and guidance leading up to the examinations.

And while he found Mathematics and Principles of Accounts to be the most challenging of all the subjects, Mark said that once he managed to overcome the workload, his focus was on strengthening his preparation for the other subjects.

“I did a lot of studying on my own also, so that worked out,” he said. He started out at Mabaruma Primary and later Hosororo Primary School, where he topped at the National Grade Six Examinations several years ago.

Wilburg, whose mother is a single-parent, plans to attend university in the future, but he is still considering what path to pursue. In the meantime, the collective young man plans to return to Mabaruma and provide academic assistance to students there before he embarks on further studies and a career path.