Weeks after losing her mother to cancer, 16-year-old Luanna Gopal of Golden Fleece sat 17 subjects at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and passed all of them.
Luanna, of Lot C, Golden Fleece, a student of Abram Zuil Secondary School, secured eight Grade Ones, six Grade Twos and three Grade Threes, in results that came about a month after her mother, Hilon Gopal, died.
She said the examinations tested her strength and determination as much as her academic ability.
“I’m happy with my results. Even though I experienced a tragedy a month before my examinations, I’m grateful that I was still able to enter the exam rooms, sit my exams and pass all the subjects I wrote,” she said.
Luanna said adapting to life without her mother while preparing for examinations was among the greatest challenges she had faced, adding that there were moments when staying focused proved difficult.
Her father, Rajesh Gopal, a Clerk of Suddie Court 2, along with her wider family, provided support during the period. Luanna also credited her faith, friends and teachers for helping her stay on track, singling out teacher Nadia Pearce for nurturing her love of literature and encouraging her academically.
The young lady, who described herself as her own greatest motivator, said she battled grief and procrastination alongside outstanding school-based assessments in the lead-up to the examinations.
She hopes to attend the University of Guyana to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Biology before entering the university’s pre-medical programme, with ambitions to build a better future for herself and make her family proud.
