Ardenne ace student cops five ones in CAPE
Published:Wednesday | September 23, 2020 | 3:13 PM
Judana Murphy, Gleaner Writer
Nineteen-year-old Nikaylia Gayle has had a series of consecutive success in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
The Ardenne High School student received five grade ones in the July 2020 CAPE Unit 2 exams, a repeat of the grades she obtained in last year’s sitting.
Gayle sat Pure Mathematics, Caribbean Studies, Chemistry, Computer Science and Physics.
“I was shaking when I saw it. I was so proud of myself because I’ve been on a mission to get all ones since grade 10,” she recounted, adding that in CSEC, she attained nine grade ones.
“CAPE Unit 2 was unique because I had to learn a module for each of my subjects, strictly online.”
She said it was difficult to adapt to the new mode of learning, especially for math, chemistry and physics, but with marathons and study sheets she created for the content-intensive subjects, Gayle was prepared to ace every exam.
She credited the sacrifices of her father for the success she has achieved throughout her seven high school years.
“As a single parent, he made sure I never lacked anything and was never absent from school for any trivial matter. He was always drilling me to take up books because I’m not much of a reader and to do my homework whenever I got them. He has been my rock throughout my high school journey,” she said.
Gayle also represented Ardenne and Jamaica in 2019 and 2020 at WFUNA International Model United Nations.
This year, she also received a Position Paper Award for the knowledge she illustrated on Costa Rica’s stance on reducing nuclear danger.
Gayle is currently on a deferral from the Illinois Institute of Technology due to COVID-19 and additional funding required, as the scholarship she received was not sufficient.
She harbours dreams of becoming a security analyst or a civil engineer.
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