– Berbice top CAPE performer recounts jumping hurdles to success

By Cassandra Khan
VISH Kistama, an 18-year-old from Number 1 Road, Berbice, has managed to top Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), once again, attaining 10 Grade Ones and one Grade Two at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

Kistama attended Berbice High School, where he also topped the region in 2020 at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations then attaining 11 Grade Ones and five Grade Twos.

The 18-year-old, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, shared that unlike CSEC, he had to be more committed to pushing himself even more leading up to the examination time.

“I really had to invest a lot of time and effort into the IAs (Internal Assessments). I knew that that was a very prevalent part of the entire exam,” Kistama said.

He related that procrastination was a limitation for him as there were times when the young man had to push himself to achieve what he had originally set out to do.

Growing up, he said, his main goal was always to leave an impact on the lives of people. He said they were not financially stable as his mother is a nursery school teacher and his father is a hire car driver. However, his parents did financially support him to write his subjects.

His desire of “leaving an impact on people’s lives” all lead to his ambition of being a doctor. Since he was concerned about the cost of his studies, he opted to write the subjects in hopes of acquiring a scholarship from the Government of Guyana.

“I really wanted to succeed so that I could get the scholarship because I know it was something my parents would not be able to afford,” he said.

He believes that the field of medicine, combined with his passion for sciences and yearning to learn something new at all times, is how he’d be able to impact people’s lives most, as well as contribute to the development of Guyana.

“I think it’s the field where I’d be able to impact as many lives as possible. Not only that, but I think it will allow me to help others to contribute to Guyana as a whole, which would lead to a stable economy and which would accelerate development.

“So, I guess it all leads back to medicine… [which] would be my way of not only giving back to my community, but the country as a whole,” Kistama related.

He thanked his parents because they supported him in whatever way he needed them to for his examinations. He said he never felt forced as his mother would often encourage him to do as many subjects as he liked and to choose whichever field he felt most comfortable in.

“I think that freedom that I had, in terms of there wasn’t anything forced upon me… I think that sort of freedom gave me some further motivation [knowing] that my parents trusted me with it and they also provided a lot of support, which I’m very thankful for,” he added.

At Berbice High School, Kistama said his teachers were excellent in delivering and helping with IAs which was a very important part of allowing him to produce the results he did.

Interestingly, during the early parts of his preparations for his examinations, his computer stopped functioning and his studies were hindered greatly, but his mother came up with a solution.

She used an old television they had which he used as a monitor to complete his IAs and to study since textbooks are available digitally. He said this shows how he was not ready to give up no matter the circumstance.

Kistama mentioned that collaboration with like-minded students was very important in ensuring that he was able to finish the content.

“Many late nights were spent studying with other students around the Caribbean. I believe that these sessions would have allowed me to enjoy the study process a bit more for the subjects that I did this for,” he said.

Kistama added: “Hearing what others had to share and also sharing what I thought helped me to tremendously avoid procrastination because it had no room when you are forced to show up”.

He gives special thanks to his teachers who were always ready to help whenever help was needed no matter the time.

“I vividly remember messaging my teachers late in the evenings and very early in the mornings for their knowledge on certain questions and they were always willing to assist,” he noted.

Additionally, he said practice indeed resulted in perfection.

“I remember doing a lot of practice questions whether it was from the textbooks, past papers or even those curated by myself. These questions were able to prepare me so that I wasn’t surprised when I saw the actual examination paper,” Kistama said.