‘The sky is not the limit when there are footprints on the moon’ --Young scholar displays great wisdom and humility

BEING born into one of Guyana’s most affluent families, Arya Mohamed is one of the most humble, well-grounded, and wise 12-year-olds you will encounter.

This self-taught pianist and table tennis genius, recipient of the third-highest marks in Guyana at the 2022 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations, and valedictorian of Success Elementary School doesn’t feel any sense of self-entitlement for her accomplishments thus far. Instead, she believes in working hard for what she wants to accomplish in her life.

Arya told the Pepperpot Magazine that accomplishing her dream at the NGSA exams wasn’t a walk in the park for her; that there were times when she felt like she couldn’t go on.

“I am very satisfied with my accomplishments, because it is something for which I have worked for quite some time; two years and all the struggles. But after I wrote the exams and got my results, it was such a relief to know that I finally accomplished my long-term goal of becoming one of the top students for NGSA and my school,” she explained. “I am humbly proud of myself, because it was very difficult to go through this, as I am sure it was for the other children who did it.”

Arya continued by relating that the simplest of tasks, like picking up a pencil and writing “a piece of information” were very tiring for her. Still, she put in the work and made sacrifices, sometimes getting only 30 minutes of sleep after studying.

Even though the 12-yearold has a solid support system, she extended special thanks to her mother and teachers for never giving up on her.

“I owe everything to three main people: First of all, the most important person is my mom. She stayed up with me, even though it was in the morning hours. At 5am., after my prayers, I would revise and my mom was always there, saying, ‘Arya, you can’t give up now, you worked so hard, and have come such a long way; do not give up now,’” she recalled. “My mom always encouraged me, and ensured that I got all the resources that I needed; she played a very great role in supporting me, and I love her for that.”

The other two people that Arya was referring to were her teachers, Sir Success and Sir Derrick

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