The entire Kirimose village in rural Koinon, Bomet County on Monday burst into celebrations at the mention of Patience Chepkorir’s name as Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha announced the 2020 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exam results.
Patience, 18, a former student of Kenya High School, emerged ninth best nationally.
Interestingly, she said she and did not hear Prof Magoha reading out her name.
The soft-spoken student said she had not been following the release of the results as the entire village had been hit by a power blackout when the results were being announced.
A neighbour who had been following the release of the results asked her whether the name that had been mentioned was hers. Although she knew she would pass the examinations, she said she had not imagined that she would be one of the top ten students nationally.
“I started receiving calls with congratulatory messages and that is when it occurred to me that I was the one that the CS had mentioned. I am elated,” she said.
When the Nation contacted her, she was so overwhelmed that she was short of words to express her excitement.
“I do not know what to say because I have not yet seen the results. But following the many calls that I have been receiving, I can only thank God,” said Ms Chepkorir.
The teenager said that the exams had appeared a little bit challenging and she only tried her best, tackling every challenge with confidence because she had worked hard since she joined high school.
“I first want to thank God then my family and teachers for the support that they gave me. I am so happy about the results,” she said.
Her mother, Purity Lang'at said she was proud of her daughter and that she had expected her to produce good results.
“She has exceedingly made our family proud. This is the work of God and my daughter serves to show that with hard work, discipline and determination, every dream can come true,” she said of her second-born child.
Her father, Philemon Lang'at, said that he was very sure that his daughter would feature among the top students, judging from her determination and hard work.
"She is a bright girl. We were only concerned about the Covid-19 pandemic and the long period that the students spent at home. But even during that period, she did not waste time; she revised hard. I am extremely proud of her," Mr Langat said.
“I teamed up with my neighbours who were also candidates to revise for the exams. I knew my weakness in mathematics so I used the time to work on them,” she said.
She said she saw great improvement when the schools reopened as she could tackle the subject with a lot of ease.
