A history of success: Youthlink's Regina Bish cops nine distinctions

Jamila Litchmore, Youthlink Writer

Seventeen-year-old Regina Bish, whose high achievements began in the fifth grade when she entered her first Spelling Bee, has now garnered nine distinctions in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

Bish received distinctions in English language, English literature, mathematics, information technology, Spanish, principles of business, principles of accounts, history and geography.

After years of placing second in the Spelling Bee, on her fourth and last try, Bish got her long-awaited national win in the 2006 Gleaner's Children's Own Spelling Bee. From there, she went on to the 2007 Scripps National Spelling Bee competition in Washington, DC, where she placed 16th out of 288 spellers from around the world.

"The last year when I was in first form at Campion, at first I was reluctant to enter again," Bish stated. "But it really was a good thing I tried it, because I won the parish finals, won nationals, and I got a chance to go to Scripps in Washington."

When she left primary school, her grades were so exceptional that she was awarded three scholarships, including The Kraft Mathematics Scholarship and The Gleaner/Children's Own GSAT County Scholarship for Middlesex.

As the Spelling Bee phase of her life ended, Bish had a new responsibility - writing for a magazine printed on a weekly basis with a strict weekly deadline - The Gleaner's Youthlink. At age 13, now a student of Campion College, Regina had her first job and writing for the magazine was no simple task.

Sacrifices made

"Sometimes I had to make sacrifices," stated Bish. "Like if there was an event going on at school on a Saturday, such as a fair, I would have to cancel that and come to work."

Bish, whose first assignment at the Youthlink was writing 'Who sang these lyrics?' for the Entertainment section has moved up the ranks in her four years. She currently writes for the Lifestyle section and says she owes many of her successes to the skills she has learnt at the Youthlink - the most important two being time management and the development of her writing skills - as well as the support of her mother.

"My mom constantly encourages me and if I am about to give up or if I'm in a negative mindset, she just encourages me and I get back up," she said.

Regina is now moving on to sixth form at Campion College and there is no doubt more success in her future.

Regina's Tips to Achieving Success

1. Maintain your spiritual focus: Put God first in everything you do.

2. Master time management: There is a time for everything, a time to socialise and a time for school. Time management can be the difference between whether you succeed or whether you fail; it is the difference between a positive in life or a negative in life. The Youthlink taught me how to juggle my various responsibilities.

3. Give it your all: Put your all into whatever it is that you are doing; work hard and make no compromise.

4. Find the method that works for you: For me, studying entails repetition - reading and rereading and using acronyms and acrostics to remember. I am not one who will be found always studying, but I always do what I need to do, when I need to do it.