WHEN David Walker, Jnr, learned he was placed at Old Harbour High based on his Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) results, he was devastated because he had not lived up his father’s expectations of attending a traditional high school.

But the young Walker, by virtue of academic excellence, has highlighted a glaring weakness in the commonly held perception that students who attend traditional high schools automatically outperform those who attend non-traditional institutions.

The 16-year-old fourth form student has accumulated 11 subjects over two years — bagging four Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) units and three Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects this year, in addition to four CSEC last year, while in grade nine.

His grades include four ones and three twos at the CSEC level; and one grade one, one grade two and two grade threes in the CAPE exams.

While they may seem impressive since those exams are usually done in fifth and sixth forms, David is disappointed. He said he has the intellectual capacity to perform better than he did, referring to those passes which were less than grade one.

“I am very lazy,” the young man told the Jamaica Observer.

“I study rarely and I often underestimate the content of subjects. I know I am not an ordinary child, but even extraordinary people have flaws,” he continued, sounding light years ahead of his 16 years.

The decision to take on his first three CSEC subjects was his father’s idea, David admitted, but it was a challenge he couldn’t resist.

“Even though my father mentioned giving the exams a shot, I was more concerned with the fact that my older cousin was doing subjects. I wanted to do subjects, too, so that we could be in the same league because I like when my abilities are challenged and this was a great platform,” he said.

Considered a natural, the young man has been admired by his family and community for his superlative thinking skills since he was a toddler.

“He was always brilliant and to be honest, I was surprised when he was placed in a non-traditional high school, but his style of doing exams quickly may have worked against him. I have never encountered anybody who is able to grasp a concept as quickly as he does,” his father said with pride.

His disappointment with his son’s GSAT placement was temporary, as he had developed a master plan to unearth his genius. The plan wasn’t immediately successful.

“He was awarded a place in the highest stream at the grade seven level, and I knew it was a start, but each term, David’s academics got worse. He continued to be demoted,” Walker said.

The father said he knew there was an underlying reason for David’s poor academic performance.

“When I inquired he said he didn’t feel challenged, and it felt unfulfilling regurgitating content he already knew,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Walker said he cross-referenced the findings of his conversation with his son and his report card and the analysis was the same: he was unchallenged by the content at his grade level.

At the ninth grade, Walker made the decision to provide David with the challenge he had been craving.

“I approached the head of the science department, Flores Ranking, and asked for him to sit in the grade 10 physics and chemistry classes. This way I would be able to track his progress,” Walker said.

David was able to do it without missing his regular classes since the school operates on a shift system.

What started out as an experiment would soon come to signal David’s hallmark of excellence. He was not only a mathematics whiz, he placed 10th in the island for his outstanding performance in CSEC electrical and electronic technology.

David plans to join the ranks at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States next school year, after sitting seven CAPE units in May/June 2016, and the Scholastic Aptitude Test, a US college entry exam, which the family said could cost $90,000.

His family, already struggling to make ends meet, said they are aware that preparations for David’s journey to becoming an aeronautical engineer will be an expensive venture, but they do not appear fazed.

His mother, Claudette Vaughan, a senior instructor at the Human Employment and Resource Training Trust (HEART) College of Beauty Services, who describes David as humble and extremely considerate, said she is willing to take out all the stops to ensure her son continues on his trail of excellence.

“We wanted to paint our house and we had to put it off. We wanted to buy a car, but that is not going to happen because he will be doing seven CAPE units and his brother, Davion, who attends Glenmuir High, will need to be assisted in the same way soon,” his father added.

David is cognisant that his dream will come at a high price to his family, but he is preparing to apply himself so that he will be considered for scholarships to ease the financial burdens. He has no doubt he will remain focused for the journey ahead, he told the newspaper, as, guided by his father’s strict study regime, he has already mastered the importance of discipline in academic pursuit.

David has received confirmation that he will sit in the grades 12/13 classes, at his school, beginning next week.