QUEEN’S College student Christian Pile, 16, is Guyana’s top performer at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations, with 19 Grade one passes.

The subjects he secured maximum passes in are English Language and Literature, general and additional mathematics, biology, physics, chemistry, integrated science, agricultural science, social-studies, geography, history, religious education, physical education, human and social biology (HSB), Spanish, electronic document processing and management (EDPM), principles of business (PoB) and information technology.

“I always knew that I had the ability to do extremely well when it comes to academics,” said Pile, who praised his mother for being his source of encouragement.

“I remember I was doing 16 subjects and she [his mother] was telling me ‘You can do more!’ [and] ‘Why not try to do more… to the best of your ability’?” he told the Guyana Chronicle in an exclusive interview.

Not backing down from the challenge, he added three more subjects to the 16 he originally settled on sitting and his mother gave her full support by staying up with him during his long nights of studies.

From as early as Fourth Form, Pile started laying the foundation to do well. He related that he had early morning lessons, which lead into his school day followed by extra after-school lessons and evening studies.

“It’s really challenging when it comes to managing your time, when you’re doing 19 subjects,” he said, adding: “You have to be able to manage your time well and divide your tasks so that you can finish them.”

Pile, who was in the science stream, pursued subjects outside of his stream and worked closely along with his teachers who facilitated him and played an instrumental role in the completion of his School Based Assessments (SBAs).

The hardest part though, was waking up early (because a guy just has to sleep his sleep!) and then staying up late in the nights or even early into the mornings after a full day of school.

Additional mathematics, a subject that he pursued only in Fifth Form, just a few months before CSEC exams, was perhaps his most challenging subject because it was a big step up from general mathematics.

Nevertheless, it was not all work and no play for Christian Pile. Though he scaled back on his extra-curricular activities leading up to his exams, he took music classes as guitar is his love. He was also involved in athletics.

“Christian Pile is like any other regular student. I just probably dedicated more time to my studies but I mean it’s not like I’m totally different from everyone else. I have lots of friends, I go out, I watch movies, I play video games a lot,” he said.

And the experience and the sacrifices were not without their rewards.

“Definitely, it would have to be seeing that I am resilient and seeing that I can actually persevere, I can actually get through the rough times and actually succeed,” the young man said.

For his parents Fayann Simpson Pile and Nigel Pile, they knew that he was a “gifted” child that was destined for the top position.

Nigel gave his son his full support during his studies, a point his mother said was key to his success.

“You have to recognise that your child is gifted and that is what I recognised very early on… I was just there dedicating all the time, you know — the two o’clock, three o’clock morning sessions — being there to encourage him when he was tired, frustrated and just feeling like he can’t do it,” she related.

Pile’s next move is to pursue the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) at Queen’s College in keeping with his dream to becoming an orthodontist.

In 2013, Pile, then a student of Mae’s Under-12, was placed second in the country at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) with 547 marks.

This year some 12,266 candidates registered to sit the examinations compared to 12,684 candidates in 2017.