Ambitious Mark Brown is GSAT's top boy ... Scholarship winner planning for a career in medicine
Published:Monday | July 15, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Adrian Frater, News Editor
Western Bureau:
When Mark Brown was told he had emerged as the top boy from the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) results for 2013, he was not entirely surprised, but nonetheless exploded with delight, screaming, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"I knew that with an average of 99.4, I had done extremely well," said Mark, who made his school, the Chetwood Memorial Primary School, in Montego Bay, St James, extremely proud with his performance.
"However, I was not sure if I had emerged as the top performer. This is really good ... I really like what I am hearing."
For Mark's mother, Marcia Brown, who works in the accounting field, the results her son achieved did not come as a surprise as, according to her, his preparation - which included early morning classes at school and Saturday classes - went extremely well.
"He was getting very good marks all the way through," she noted.
While examination preparation requires discipline, focus and concentration, Mark's father, Owen, who is in the merchandising business, said because of his son's excellent work ethic, there was no need to pressure him in any way.
"We did not need to apply any pressure on him at all; he knew what was expected of him and all we basically had to do was supervise him," said Mark's father. "He sets high standards for himself and he always wants to be the best at what he does."
Cornwall College bound
While he had to make a sacrifice in terms of giving up some 'kid stuff' during his examination preparations, the highly organised youngster, who will be attending Cornwall College come September, did not give up everything.
"He is very involved in his church (Montego Bay United Church), but he is very organised in terms of his time management, so his schoolwork did not suffer in any way," said Mrs Brown.
Mark, who left for a church camp in St Mary yesterday, is anxiously looking forward to going off to Cornwall College in September as, in addition to his lofty academic expectations, he is hoping to make an impact in sports, especially cricket and volleyball.
"I want to have a career in medicine and Cornwall College's tradition in the sciences is very rich," said Mark. "I always wanted to get into sports as I played cricket and volleyball for my old school."
Mark, who received the Scotiabank Foundation Shining Star Excellence - Top Boy scholarship, is already setting solid goals for himself as he braces for the rigours of high-school life at Cornwall College.
"I want to do even better in high school than I did in primary school," he said. "Cornwall College has a tradition of academic excellence and I want to contribute to it."