Kayla DaCosta is no ordinary girl, and here’s why:

The Manchester High School student has 11 CSEC subjects to her name! She started taking the CSEC exams from as early as the eighth grade, where she sat Mathematics and obtained her first ever one. As she got to grade nine, she took the French exam and attained another one.

She increased the number of subjects she would take at the CSEC level to two when she advanced to fourth form, and so did English Language and Principle of Accounts, in which she also attained ones.

DaCosta finally sat 7 subjects this year (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Additional Mathematics, Information Technology, Religious Education and Spanish) in fifth form, obtaining straight A profiles for each.  

Here’s what Kayla told us when we asked her about her CXC journey:

teenAGE: What was going through your head as you logged into the CXC portal?

Kayla: Each year I had similar feelings as I logged onto the system, a feeling of confidence because I know the effort I had put into preparing for the exams.

I didn’t think much of the release much however my aunt Keri was very anxious and even began to count down the time to the release.

teenAGE: Which subject was the hardest for you? What did you do to ensure you passed it?

Kayla: Due to my hearing disability, I had to put in extra effort to acquire my knowledge. As such, French and Spanish gave me a hard time as although I wear hearing aids, I do find it difficult to interpret some English words correctly and often times hear something different from what is said. I had to practice on my own listening to audios with subtitles in the respective languages which helped me to know how particular words sounded. I also always ensure that I was at the front of the class and fully engaged in the lesson so that I would be able to take notes and hear the teachers’ discussions and explanations.

teenAGE: Based on your experience, what advice would you give to TEENS who will be sitting exams next year?

Kayla: Set a goal that you believe you can achieve and work towards it. Many times while studying it may be difficult to read from a textbook or the concepts may be difficult to understand but you should figure out the difficulties you have as an individual and work around them. The main key is to never give up. Failures are inevitable but we can learn from them and correct them next time around.

tenAGE: What is the next step for you?

Kayla: I am now enrolled in sixth form at Manchester High and will be sitting Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Pure Maths and Communication Studies at the CAPE level. I am an aspiring Pharmacist and I wish to pursue this in University after 6

^th

 form.

Kayla was an executive member of the Red Cross Club and she played piano as an extracurricular activity.

teenAGE is extremely proud of you Kayla and we can’t wait to see what you accomplish in the future.

Catch you later Future Pharmacist! 

–Isheba Cornwall