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of the batch Dilushi Wijayaratne of St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo 7 topped the biological science stream for the year with an outstanding Z - score of 3.5447, and now plans to do medicine at university. Being ranked 2nd in the island at the G.C.E. ordinary level exams and a consistent performer in the academic department throughout her school career, Dilushi took to biological science like a duck taking to water, although her favourite subject until then had been mathematics. It’s not surprising then, that she liked physics best during her A/level years. Explaining her choice of bio-science, she says, “If I didn’t opt for medicine, I would have chosen a career in that field.” Apart from her academic excellence, Dilushi was also the vice-president of her school Scrabble club and has won awards at tournaments as well. She was also a member of the school Western Band and tennis team, in addition to being Deputy Head Prefect at St. Bridget’s. So what was her magical formula for success? Dilushi is a consistent worker, with impeccable focus on what she wants to achieve. “The teachers in school were very encouraging and dedicated,” she says, adding however, that as is the case with a competitive exam, extra help was necessary. Dulip Bandara Piyaratne of Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala, agrees. “You have to work consistently,” he says, “as the exams are so competitive, you need that little extra work and extra reading.” Adding that one must remember to take things easy, and not get bogged down by work alone, he said it was important to plan, and focus on what you wanted for yourself. Having topped the batch in Physical science, he now plans to study engineering, with the possibility of computer science and electronics on the sidelines. “ I was always interested in math problems,” he says, so his choice of subjects was certainly obvious. Naturally inclined towards the sciences, he was also the President of his school Science Society, and a member of the Computer Society. Asked if students from Colombo schools had an advantage over their counterparts from outstation schools, he says that although the difference wasn’t massive in comparison to his school, it was probably a different case with schools in more rural areas. “At my school, we can always do a bit of extra reading at the library,” he says, adding that some rural areas did not even have adequately-equipped laboratories for experiments. Mahesha Jayawardane of Visakha Vidyalaya took to arts, more or less by the ‘elimination of choices’. “I didn’t really like maths, and science was definitely not my thing, so it boiled down to a choice between commerce and arts,” she says. Her choice has certainly not let her down. Being ranked number 1 all island in the arts stream, Mahesha says that she loves English, and was also involved in a lot of extra-curricular activities in school, adding, “I had more enthusiasm for things than I could afford to devote the time for.” She was active in the English Literary Society and Broadcasting Unit of her school, and has also played badminton and taken part in athletics. Having sat for Law Entrance exams in September, Mahesha also hopes to pursue a degree in Arts at the university, reading either journalism or English. “I don’t have a goal as such,” she says, “ I take things as they come.” She believes it’s important to be organized from the very beginning, or else, “it becomes kind of difficult to pick it up towards the end.” At the end of the day, all of them agree that organized work was definitely a key to doing well. “I didn’t stay up till very late at night,” says Dilushi, and Dulip echoes the sentiment. Mahesha, however, had a different time-table, but the bottom line, she stresses, “is that you plan something you are comfortable with and stick to it.” All these super-achievers, however, stress that studying alone was not everything. None of them went into their exams with the goal of coming out on top, but instead wanted ‘to do their very best’. Asked whether they had to curtail their activities in order to achieve these results, they all say that they lived pretty ‘ordinary’ lives that weren’t too stressful! “You have to hang out with friends, and take things easy,” grins Dulip, “you have to continue enjoying life.” Jayodh Dantanarayana
of Ananda College, Colombo who topped the batch in the Commerce
stream was not available for comment. -AC |
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