STERLING

All her life, 17-year-old Shanique Sterling had observed her mother's daily struggle to get her a good education. At times it was hard and her mother couldn't find the means or money to send her to school but she always did.

But little did her mother know her daily sacrifice had made an impression on Shanique's mind. It pressed her day and night to do her best.

This summer, Shanique earned nine distinctions in her Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams and her mother is proud. She got all ones for the subjects, chemistry, physics, biology, English language, English literature, geography and Spanish.

"The only way to get out of poverty is through education," the paediatrician hopeful told The Gleaner.

"Because of that, during GSAT time, I wanted to get out of this. Because I knew my mother never really had it," she added.

She praised the support she got from her family. But her praises were mostly for her teachers and for God.

Beyond the call of duty

"The teachers at Wolmers went beyond the call of duty. Some would even stay after school or even help me during their lunch time," she said.

As a strong Christian she never felt she would have made it without the help of God. She believes her grades are a miracle.

"I was going through a lot of family stress that school friends didn't know about. But God brought me through."