IT’S a presidential high school exit for Immaculate Conception’s Student Council head, and member of Jamaica’s national badminton team, Breanna Bisnott.

The 18-year-old, who is now pursuing a degree in biomedical engineering at The University of the West Indies, Mona, has racked up 16 passes across the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

“These past three years I have been blessed to reap the crop of my efforts, and so I have not been surprised by my results but instead felt great satisfaction in knowing that my efforts in balancing my academics alongside my extra-curricular activities were not futile,” Bisnott told the Jamaica Observer in an interview.

“The moment I saw my grades, I was in the middle of a lecture on my first day of university. Though these results would not impact my position in university, I anxiously awaited five o’clock to check. Once I logged into the portal, all anxiety left my body and I was overcome with gratitude and relief,” the Havendale, St Andrew, resident continued.

Bisnott has seven Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) grade ones across mathematics, English language, English literature, biology, physics, Spanish and information technology, and a grade two in additional mathematics and chemistry.

At the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Unit 1 level she has four grade ones for physics, pure mathematics, computer science, and communication studies (for which she placed third in Jamaica).

For CAPE Unit 2 she received three grade ones in physics, pure mathematics, computer science, and a grade two for Caribbean studies.

“The grades I hold most dearly to my heart are my ones with straight-A profiles in pure mathematics in Units 1 and 2. My family has produced a line of excellent mathematicians. My late grandfather, Keith Bisnott, was incredible at mathematics and teaching it. As such, it has always been a goal of mine, growing up, to be successful in the subject to make him proud,” Bisnott related.

Bisnott’s education began at Stella Maris Preparatory School, and she matriculated to Immaculate Conception High School after passing the Grade Six Achievement Test or GSAT (now Primary Exit Profile or PEP).

She grew up in Kingston and St Andrew with her family, whom she said continuously provided support throughout her endeavours.

“My family has been extremely supportive and proud of my educational strides. I am immensely grateful for the support system they provide for me. I am especially grateful for my parents, Keisha Billings and Micheal Bisnott, for their continued sacrifice and best interest for me, despite whichever situation they’re in. Their efforts constantly reassure me of how blessed I am and serve as a motivation for me to be successful in my endeavours,” she told the Sunday Observer.

She said her transition to high school played a fundamental role in developing her leadership and social skills.

“Though I was a student leader while enrolled in prep school, I was still very shy and not outspoken. High school exposed me to new, uncomfortable environments and as such, I found it challenging to establish myself in the new space. Nonetheless, I rose to the challenge and in time established myself at Immaculate Conception High School in several capacities,” Bisnott shared with the Sunday Observer.

In addition to being students’ council president at Immaculate, she was president of the Engineering Society, vice-president of the Inter-School Christian Fellowship, and badminton team captain, to name a few of her accolades.

“My transition and journey from early education to high school has taught me to have confidence in myself and dreams, regardless of what the situation may be in the moment. I would like to become a biomedical engineer. I aim to establish myself in the engineering field internationally and expound my knowledge so that I am able to make substantial advancements in Jamaica’s technological field and utmost, the world,” she added.

Bisnott said the main factor that affected her was the responsibility of balancing being a student leader and student athlete while preparing for her examinations.

“I was able to overcome the hurdles with the help of my various support systems. I had a phenomenal team working with as president that continuously answered the call to serve. My parents and family also played an integral role in accommodating my hectic lifestyle and supporting in whichever way they can. With time management and discipline I was able to balance my schedule despite the limitations that came in the way.”

Bisnott, who is almost always at badminton training, told the Sunday Observer that preparing for science subjects during the novel cornavirus pandemic required an intentional amount of dedication and discipline.

“Science subjects tend to require a hands-on learning approach to thoroughly understand the concept to be brought across, whether that be in the lab or watching your teacher demonstrate an activity. This was one of the biggest limitations that affected my preparations of my exams due to the fact that I and my colleagues had to adapt and reinvent the way we typically grasped concepts.

“Additionally, I found that as a result of not getting the full lab experience in fifth form, I had to overcompensate in sixth form as I had to quickly adapt to applying my knowledge gained from online lab simulations to real-life labs. Though the transitions were rocky, with the immense support from my teachers and family I was able to adapt as well as I did in order to come out successfully in my examinations and stay on my path to engineering.”

With those elements at play, she said she was “definitely nervous” whenever it was time to check her grades.

“My approach to examinations is to give my preparations my best effort and strive for excellence. As such, my mentality going into the results period is to be kind to myself, despite the grade values. Nevertheless, I am always anxiously ready to check results as I take pride in the satisfaction gained from reaping the rewards of good work,” she said.