PARENTS always admonish their children to aim for the sky, adding that if they fall short, they will land among the clouds. But what if they actually make it to the sky?

Ask recent graduate of Immaculate Conception Aleique Allen.

She walked away from the last sitting of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams with 10 grades ones. Ten.

“It was actually a bribe,” reveals proud mother Rose Levy, who tells how her daughter asked for a Microsoft Surface — a laptop which doubles as a tablet — and how she responded by saying that the only way she would make that kind of sacrifice to get her one is were she able to attain a grade one in all 10 subjects she was preparing to sit at CSEC.

Aleique took the bait.

She sat additional mathematics, biology, chemistry, English A (language), English B (literature), French, human and social biology, information technology, mathematics, and physics. She also sat principles of accounting and Spanish at the end of her fourth year, gaining grades one and two, respectively.

“I didn’t really expect to get all 10 ones,” reveals the five-year honour student who has ambitions of a career in forensic pathology.

Allen, now 16 years old and awaiting the start of her first sixth-form year at Immaculate, grew up in Portmore, St Catherine, an only child. Her first classroom was home, then on to Little Folks Pre-school. Her mother recounts that Allen started to show signs of her exemplary ability when she did the interview to attend Portmore Missionary Preparatory. Turning up at the school for registration late by today’s standards — since parents now seek placement a year in advance — Allen was initially going to be turned away. But, when assessed, the principal made a place for her. At the end of her tenure there she scored the second highest Grade Six Achievement Test results for that school.

“No, I have no secret method,” admits Allen when asked how she managed to achieve such results. She adds that she simply listens in class, is an avid note-taker and reviews her notes after class to reinforce her knowledge.

She doesn’t hesitate to say that the subject she finds most difficult is English A (Language). “I just find it challenging. I so prefer math. That’s my favourite one.”

Mom chimes in: “It’s astonishing, because she reads a lot. It is the only subject we had to send her to extra class for.”

An active teenager, Allen has participated in a number of extra-curricular activities over the years. Dancing, netball, sign language, table tennis, choir, and others, but the one that stuck was her love for music. Her mother admits that Aleique would start and stop different activities and she was worried it would carry over into schoolwork. But it didn’t. She played the violin in her high school’s Symphony Orchestra, and has done well in both Royal Schools and Trinity College piano exams, which she started at an early age.

Her father, Robert, who works at home and so spent much time with her during her developmental years, was concerned that his daughter was a bit of a “nerd” and secretly spoke with her school’s track coach to get her interested in an outdoor activity. While not a Champs representative, Aleique is proud of her achievements away from the textbook.

Friends play a big role in her school life. She tells of their friendly rivalry which sees them always aiming to better the other’s performance.

Like all parents, Levy wants her daughter to be able to take on the world. “I want to see a little more rebel (strength) in here,” confesses Levy. “She wants to study abroad, and I want her to develop the ability to handle herself in any circumstance.,” It’s an opinion reinforced by her father.

“We don’t give her much restrictions… We don’t have to tell her to study. She does her work and does her assignments. And she has learnt all the lessons I want my girl to know. She is focused. She just needs to be a little neater in her room,” she says, followed by a laugh.

Summer is for fun and Aleique’s mother makes it clear that she makes sure to enrol her daughter in a fun programme when on break from school. She has done cooking with the late Mrs Heather Little-White, dancing at Edna Manley College, sign language training, swimming at YMCA, along with other creative lessons during the two-month holiday each year.

Asked how she balances her school and extra-curricular responsibilities, she confesses: “Sometimes I wonder myself. It’s a lot of work, but if I want something I will work for it.”

She adds that she does attempt to follow a timetable, but basically prepares by focusing on the lesser-know material.

Allen thanks her teachers and parents — who she calls the instigators — for her success. “I know they want the best for me,” she says, with a smile on her face and a quick roll of the eyes that reveals it has not all been fun and games.

She knows there is much work ahead of her as her career goal make take her some 10 years of study, she says. She will also pursue SATs in the hope of a scholarship to finance tertiary studies. In the meantime, however, Aleique will continue doing her chores at home hoping that her parents will live up to their end of the bargain and deliver the promised Microsoft Surface.