As someone who constantly performed at an average level, Tashaia Leonard never expected to excel at her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) 2021 examinations. For many, virtual classes served as a barrier to learning. This was not the case for Tashaia, who defied all odds. Her fear of failure drove her to become self-motivated. Utilising the resources available to her, with the help of extra lessons and a study group, she was able to prepare for her examinations and, in the end, she has been rewarded with great success.
“Do not waste time while you have it; just do what you can while you have the time because you will regret it afterwards.”
Preparing for the Examinations
“At first I never enjoyed studying and so I procrastinated a lot. It was until April 2021 that I started to take my work seriously,” Tashaia confessed. As a result, preparing for her examination was very challenging because she had to make up for all the lost time as her examination date approached. Tashaia expressed that her biggest challenge was that the content covered in school was not enough to pass her examination. As a result, she enrolled in a few extra classes to get additional help. It was through attending these classes that she developed confidence in her readiness for her examinations.
Though Tashaia attended both school and extra classes, she still believed there was more to learn. With the aid of YouTube, she watched many educational videos and made notes. She even went a step further by reaching out to a friend and they established a study group through which concepts that she did not understand were explained. This she believed was critical to her learning.
Reflecting on her early high school years, Tashaia revealed that she often got substandard grades and it was this which drove her to do better. In her quest to excel, she utilised every opportunity to push in some studies. Since she believed that she was not learning much at school, Tashaia made a bold decision to skip classes and used that time to learn new concepts. “I would wake up early in the morning most days, starting early in the morning to late in the evening, sometimes for approximately twelve hours straight,” she recounted. As a result, Tashaia not only developed a love for studying but became much better at Math, Chemistry and Physics. She even started to help her peers who had difficulties understanding certain concepts.
Coping with Virtual Learning
For Tashaia, virtual learning was very convenient since, during this time, she relocated further away from Georgetown. She also enjoyed waking up later and attending classes in the comfort of her home. However, she confessed that she would have preferred to go to school so that she could have gotten to socialise with her friends and enjoy their last year of high school.
Aside from this, Tashaia believed that the virtual platform did not hinder her learning since she learns best through watching videos and making study notes. Her only problem with online learning was that she felt very tired and often felt tempted to sleep since she had easy access to her bed.
Support System
“My parents and my grandmother helped me to stay motivated during this time,” said Tashaia, as she reflected on a conversation where her grandmother offered to pay for any extra classes that she needed since she wanted her to do her best. Not only did her grandmother support her financially, but she would also encourage her and ensure her environment was conducive for studying and that she had all the resources needed for her to excel.
Tashaia also admitted that during this time, she prayed more than ever before and believed that it was her prayers and the prayers of her family members that took her through her examinations successfully.
Thoughts and Emotions
Tashaia often doubted her abilities. She remembered counting to see how many questions she was sure she got correct to gauge her results during her exams. However, upon leaving the examination room and hearing her friends discussing their answers, she started to feel anxious and uncertain of her answers. Therefore, Tashaia never wanted to make any assumptions about her grades because she did not want to set herself up for disappointment.
Having to wait for her results was nerve-wracking for Tashaia. She even expressed her annoyance after the proposed date for the release of the results was postponed. Finally, after approximately two months, the day, on which she was anxiously awaiting, came.
On the day of her results, she expressed that she was scared and even confessed to projecting getting low grades, especially for Technical Drawing since she feared she had failed. However, seeing her grades surprised her since she had done exceptionally well.
After writing eight subjects at the CSEC examinations, she attained two Distinctions in Math and Information Technology; four Grade Ones in English, French, Physics and Technical Drawing and two Grade Twos in Geography and Chemistry. Not only was she surprised at her abilities, but she was very happy that all her hard work paid off and that she was able to make her family proud.
Advice to Other CSEC Students
“Do not waste time while you have it. Just do what you can while you have the time because you will regret it afterwards. It is only for a time. Just get it done and you can take a break after. It may seem hard, you may get tired but just do what you have to do because you don’t want to have to do it twice,” said Tashaia.
Tashaia reflected on wasting a lot of time while preparing for her exams which placed a lot of pressure on her since she had limited time to learn new concepts. She also advises other students “to create a study group with your friends or find someone who understands concepts that you are weak in so that they can help you if you are having a difficult time and cannot afford lessons.” This, she believes, is a vital component for all students since it helped her prepare for her examination.
Future Plans
Tashaia has not yet decided on her intended career path. However, she is currently majoring in Civil Engineering at the University of Guyana.
Though Tashaia has not decided on her intended career path, we believe that Tashaia has the potential to excel in anything she puts her mind to do and with God’s help and the support of her parents, we know that Tashaia will do great things.
