By Emma Ryan
A LETTERKENNY student who received full marks in her English Leaving Certificate exam has thanked her teachers for their help and support.
Lakshmi Shaji (18) from College Farm Road, Letterkenny is a former student of Loreto Letterkenny.
Lakshmi has always been passionate about English, but she was greatly encouraged by her teachers to start writing.
She said she is delighted to have received full marks in her English exam.
“I started reading from a young age but when I started secondary school, a couple of my English teachers really encouraged me to start writing.
“It is one of my favourite subjects.
“Ms Violet Harkin was my English teacher for leaving certificate and she could not believe it when I told her my result.
“Ms Harkin was extremely helpful throughout the year and I am grateful for all her help.
“She would correct all my essays for me even if she was very busy and she really helped me out.
“Also Ms Sinead Sweeney was my teacher for the Junior Certificate and she really got me into writing and helped me win my first competition at The Allingham Arts Festival,” said Lakshmi.
Overall, Lakshmi got an incredible 589 points in her exams, three H1s and three H2s.
She is currently appealing her French exam which could see her results increased to another H1.
Interestingly, Lakshmi said she did not perform as well as she might have been expected to in her mocks and she received a H5 in English.
However, she quickly turned her results around.
“I was very busy at the start of the year with all sorts of things so I did not really perform that well in my mocks.
“I think when I got my results, I knew I had to step it up a little and I started doing work every day to get to this point.
Lakshmi is now looking ahead to her next challenge as she moves to Galway to study Medicine.
“It is a little nerve wrecking now but I am looking forward to getting started.
“We start on September 18 so I am looking forward to starting my studies,” said Lakshmi.
A spokesperson for Loreto Letterkenny said, “This is an extremely unusual and most amazing achievement and we are so proud of you Lakshmi.
“You have contributed so much to life in Loreto over your six years here and we wish you every success in the future.”
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