says writing 25 subjects was challenging, hopes to secure gov’t scholarship to further studies

SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD Suriya Walcott of Queenstown Village, Essequibo Coast was in disbelief when it was revealed that based on the preliminary results released by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), she had secured 18 Grade Ones, six Grade Twos and one Grade Three at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

The Anna Regina Secondary School student has the country’s third highest number of Grade Ones.

The results were announced by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand during a special ceremony held last Thursday at Walcott’s school. A fellow student, Alex Muntaz attained the country’s highest number of Grade Ones. In addition to his 23 Grade Ones, he secured four Grade Twos

Walcott, an aspiring lawyer, is still trying to come to grips with her excellent performance.

She recently told the Guyana Chronicle that she owes her success to God, and her parents Oneka and John Walcott.

Walcott is hoping for a government scholarship so that she can pursue her chosen career.

“I thought it was difficult, having to study 25 subjects at the same time. It was challenging but I kept reminding myself that big success doesn’t come without big challenges,” she said.

She added that writing so many subjects required commitment and finances.

According to her, she had to attend lessons for each subject and dedicate a lot of time to home studies.

“Everyone did their part. My parents…my siblings Joneka and Johni being older assisted me in certain concepts. I am so grateful that I made everyone proud,” Walcott said.

The teen related that during her primary school days, she had pictured herself being among the country’s top CSEC performers.

She said she is elated and satisfied that this dream has come true.

Walcott is of the belief that her closeness to God played a major role in her outstanding performance.

“I think this is a blessing from God because occasionally I’d skip lessons to present presentations and sermons for church so I once again would like to thank God for guiding me throughout the examinations,” she further added.

She recalled that her siblings would take turns dropping her to lessons and sometimes she would get home around 20:00 hours.

Walcott also extended gratitude to the head teacher of Anna Regina Secondary School, Lalljeet Rooplall, who had always encouraged her to do her best.

She said she kept remembering her HM saying “Suriya you can do this”.

Walcott used the opportunity to emphasise the need to balance book time with extracurricular activities. She said that the latter ensured that she was level-headed while she prepared for her exams.