As he celebrates attaining 20 Grade One passes at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination, Christian Pile is feeling relieved and extremely accomplished.
RESULTS: CSEC 2018 Preliminary Results
Pile is believed to be the top Guyanese student at the CSEC this year. The results are to be released by the Ministry of Education today.
Sixteen-year-old Pile who is a student of Queen’s College told Stabroek News yesterday that he wrote 19 subjects simply because he could.
“I had the ability to do more than nine so why limit myself?” he noted, explaining that he wrote all of the Science subjects since I has always had a passion and an interest in Science in general.
“I remember the first profession I had in mind was that of an astronomer. That is still on my list of career choices. In addition I wrote several subjects in the Arts stream which included History, Geography and Social Studies because I didn’t really have many issues when I wrote them in third form so I just continued. I did one business subject and I also did subjects such as Physical Education. Most persons believe that “smart” kids don’t necessarily do sports but I’m extremely athletic actually so P.E was an easy subject for me when it came to the practical aspect. I also did Religious Education which wasn’t challenging for me since I grew up in church,” he explained.
All together Pile wrote Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Integrated Science, Agricultural Science, English Language, English Literature, General Mathematics, Additional mathematics, Geography, Social Studies, History, Principles of Business Information Technology, Electronic Document Preparation Management, Human and Social Biology, Physical Education, Religious Education and Spanish. Since Agricultural Science is a double award subject Pile has recorded 20 instead of 19 passes.
He expressed gratitude to God, his parents especially his mother Fayann Simpson-Pile whom he said supported him continuously.
“Even when I doubted myself she was always there to reassure me,” he said of his mother.
Simpson-Pile who also spoke with Stabroek News said the results have made her very emotional.
“I’m very proud and tired too,” she shared adding that expected great things from their son as he has always performed well.
“This is the second time he has made us this proud. The first was in 2013 when he placed second in the Grade Six Exam,” the excited mother explained.
The teachers of Queen’s College were also praised by the student who noted that they would’ve helped him with his School-Based Assessments and giving further explanations for topics he found difficult.
“All the teachers in the Science Department including Mr. [Navendra] Hardyal who was always there to help. All the teachers who would’ve helped me with the Arts subjects. My English teacher at school. My Additional Mathematics teacher and all those who went out of their way to ensure that I did well. I did take extra lessons and I would like to thank all those teachers including Ms. Fung, Ms Baksh, Ms Candida for Spanish, Ms. Jordan who assisted me in 4th form, Mr. Bholonauth and my tutors who helped me including Mr. Browne, Mr. Antolov, Mr. Gordon French and Mr. Kellon Ault as well as Ms. Whittaker and Ms. Crawford who assisted me,” he said.
For those who might wish to follow in his footsteps Pile advises that they know their abilities.
“Don’t take on more than you can handle. Avoid procrastination as much as you can. Stay focused but also remember to have a social life since your life doesn’t revolve around studies and work,” he stressed.
