Michael Coke Jr can easily be described in one word — excellent.

The Kingston College (KC) graduate, who last week started pursuing a bachelor’s degree in actuarial science at The University of the West Indies, Mona, earned a total of 19 passes in secondary level examinations over his last three years in high school.

The passes comprise grade ones in mathematics, English language, physics, chemistry, biology, principles of business, principles of accounts, French, and information technology in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations.

At the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) Unit 1 level he scored grade ones in physics, chemistry, pure mathematics and computer science, as well as a grade three in communication studies.

This year, in the CAPE Unit 2 exams Coke Jr scored grade ones in physics, chemistry, pure mathematics and computer science, and a grade two in Caribbean studies.

Surprisingly, though, Coke Jr told the Jamaica Observer that the exam result of which he is most proud is the grade two he received for Caribbean Studies.

“That was one subject that absolutely refused to click with me for the entire year. The copious amount of content and the nature of the material rendered me concerned that I’d actually fail. But thanks to a few marathon sessions by my former Head Boy Chad Rattray, I was able to pass with a two,” the Stony Hill, St Andrew resident said.

“I’ll never forget the tsunami of relief that washed over me after seeing that grade because I remember being particularly worried that I would fail,” he shared.

For a youngster who mainly pursued science-heavy subjects for which there is a practical coursework component or labs, being outside of school because of the novel coronavirus pandemic was a major setback.

“My entire fifth form year was filled with obstacles. Halfway through the school year, in 2019-2020, COVID hit and classes went online. Best believe I suffered the entire time because I barely had good connectivity back then. As a result, it would be customary for me to not only show up for only part of the classes, but to have barely learnt anything throughout. Luckily enough, KC had revision classes towards the start of CSEC and I used those to catch up,” he explained.

“These are normally experiments conducted physically and a report is prepared by the student for each experiment and that report is graded. In the past few years, though, science students were not given the luxury of physical school; therefore, our departments arranged entire days in the week just for a class to come in and perform multiple experiments so that we could try to stay on schedule to submit grades by the CXC’s (Caribbean Examination Council’s) deadline,” Coke Jr told the Observer.

The 19-year-old related that his life, especially since the age of 10, was characterised by an incessant changing of address. However, he said there was no absence of stability, and credits his father for his undying commitment.

Before Kingston College, he attended New Providence Primary School in Liguanea, and was “mentored by teachers such as Mr Rodriques and Miss Dell until my graduation in 2015”.

He said at KC he got off to a rocky start, but it was nothing from which he couldn’t rebound.

“I managed to find my academic stride while still finding time to soak in the pleasures of high school life. In my latter years, my passion for sciences led me to the vice-presidency of our school’s science and engineering clubs, and I was afforded the opportunity to explore community service and project management via the Interact Club. In my final year I was named one of Kingston College’s deputy head boys,” Coke Jr recalled.

Leisure time for Coke Jr sees him watching television, or reading and learning Spanish.

His family and friends, he said, have given him tremendous support throughout his academic journey. “Sometimes I’m convinced that my achievements bring them more joy than it does me. Sometimes the only motivation I need is that I’m doing this to make them proud,” he said, adding that his short-term career goal is to become an actuary for “a sizeable insurance firm”.

“However, actuaries are more than just insurance calculators. Our ability to assess financial risk makes us useful to a wide range of industries, such as health and energy,” he said as he posited that his ultimate aim is to be a part of the generation that helps to usher Jamaica into the new age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.