PERSISTENCE and hard work, including staying up until the wee hours of the morning to study, have finally paid off for Priety Kaur Jessy, who scored straight As in her Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
The youngest of four siblings could not hold back tears when she saw the results on her SPM slip as she did not expect to get nine As, including seven A+.
“For the SPM trial, I got eight As and one C+. The C+ was for Additional Mathematics,” said Priety from SMK Infant Jesus Convent in Johor Baru.
“I accepted the trial results with an open heart, but it did motivate me to work even harder to change the C+ to at least a B or an A-.
“However, to my surprise, I ended up getting a solid A+ for the subject I was most worried about. I was not expecting that.”
Priety said she would take a nap in the afternoon so that she would have enough energy to study at night.
“I prefer studying at night as it is quiet and there are not a lot of distractions. I usually nap for a few hours after school.
“I will then have tea and dinner before preparing to study. I usually study until about 1am or 2am.
“However, two months before SPM, I decided to reset my sleeping schedule to avoid feeling sleepy during the examination as some papers were in the afternoon,” said Priety, adding that she also used the active recall method for her studies.
Another straight As student, Eileen Yong from SMK Seri Perling, said one of the ways she kept herself motivated was to make time for hobbies despite her hectic study schedule.
“Apart from doing a lot of past year papers, I also tried my best to enjoy my hobbies, which include baking, playing the guitar and watching anime, at least once a week.
“I feel that this is a much better way to unwind and de-stress, instead of spending hours scrolling through social media,” said the youngest of two siblings who scored 10As, including nine A+.
Eileen, who plans to further her studies in the field of biology, including microbiology and molecular genetics, said her family celebrated her success with a special dinner and gifted her a new pair of sports shoes.
Meanwhile, L. Kelvin Nathans from SMK Mutiara Rini said he looked forward to furthering his studies in computer science.
Kelvin Nathans, who got 11As, including five A+, said he was grateful to his family and teachers for motivating him in his studies.
“I did not sleep well the night before my SPM results were announced as I was very nervous.
“Although I aimed to get all As, I did not expect my dream to come true,” said the only child, adding that he ensured he studied daily for the examination.
Balqis Muzakkir from SMK Penggawa Barat in Pontian said she was surprised to see her results, as she had earlier lowered her expectations.
“My aim was to get straight As. But I was not as confident after sitting for the History and Mathematics papers.
“I thought that I would not be able to achieve my target because of these two papers, but I ended up getting the results I wanted,” said Balqis, who got 10As, including three A+ and one A-.
Instead of spending hours studying at home, the fourth of five siblings said she opted to just focus more in class.
“I only spent about six to eight hours a week studying at home. But I gave my full attention during all my classes.
“In doing so, I got to rest at home, which is also important in order to do well in my studies,” said Balqis.
