Manning’s student tops Caribbean in CSEC agri science
Published:Tuesday | November 5, 2019 | 12:05 AMNickoy Wilson/Gleaner Writer
For Manning’s School student Afrecia Samuels, being recognised as one of three top students in the region for agricultural science in the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams came as a surprise.
The 19-year-old student, who hails from Fish River, Hanover, said she was “super excited” about her accomplishment.
“I wanted to do very well at all my subjects. I did not expect to get a regional prize,” Samuels said in an interview with The Gleaner on the weekend.
“I had a lot of assignments to do while also having to study, and how I faced them … . My friends got information and we shared it among each other. We were all supportive of each other. We all wanted to see each other be the best we can be,” said Samuels, who attained eight grade ones in the May-June sitting of the regional examinations.
She attained a grade one in human and social biology and a grade two in social studies when she sat both exams last year.
For students who will sit the CSEC examinations next year, she had this word of advice.
“Do not overthink, do not overwork. I told myself that CSEC was simply just end-of-year examinations that are more important than the one we’ve done before. The only thing is, it determines where you go after you finish fifth form. If you see it as something that you have to get a grade one in … it’s going to make you stressed, and when you’re stressed, you cannot function properly,” Samuels said.
Samuels, who is now a sixth-former, said that although she loves agriculture, it is her desire to be a paediatric psychiatrist.
“I want to be able to help persons be in their best mental state ... . There are so many mad persons on the road everywhere, and I want to change that. I just want to help persons. I want to make an impact on persons’ lives, and I think it would be easier if I start with the children,” she said.