Two Dominican students attending school in two Caribbean islands have exceled on their examinations in 2019

According to the Barbados Today newspaper, Dominique Lafond Queen's College student the daughter of obstetrician/gynecologist Dr. Geoffrey Lafond received grade 1's in Caribbean Studies, Chemistry, Physics, and Pure Mathematics, and a grade 2 in Communications Studies, and was announced as a Government Exhibition winner for excelling in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Her father, Dr. Geoffrey Lafond was a Dominican island scholar in 1986. He attended the St. Mary's Academy (SMA) and also went on to represent Dominica in cricket in 1985 and 1987 (taking a break in 1986 for exams) where he was outstanding with bat and behind the stumps. He is the son of the late Tom Lafond and Cythnia Clarendon Lewis.

Dr. Lafond, a consultant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Barbados, said he was proud of his daughter who he said "always remained focused and hardworking".

"I am really thankful. I am really happy. I first told myself, Dominique, you could do it, and then I put in a lot of work," he told Barbados Today newspaper.

In an exclusive interview with the Sun newspaper, Dr. Lafond said his entire family is happy and proud of Dominique's achievements.

"I've been happy to instill good old Dominican discipline towards her school work. She is much more than her academic results as she is involved in athletics, swimming, dancing as well as leadership activities," he said.

He continued," I hope her achievements serve as inspiration for other young girls both in Dominica and Barbados. She is very much Dominican as she is Barbadian. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the many Dominicans both home and abroad who have messaged and called to express their best wishes and congratulations."

Dominique said that she studied fairly hard.

"I practiced and kept on practicing. If I couldn't get something done, I would try again. If I couldn't get it done again I might ask a friend for help, I might ask a teacher for help, until I was successful," she said. She wants to study actuarial science since she loved mathematics.

Another Dominican Aleisha M. Roberts the daughter of Dominican high court judge based in Grenada Madame Justice Wynante Adrien Roberts and Alister Roberts attended the St. Joseph's Convent in St. George's Grenada where she did 14 subjects and obtained 14 one's. Overall, she came second on the island having obtained the most ones.

Justice Roberts said that she is overwhelmingly proud of her daughter Aleisha.

"I know she worked very hard and I'm glad that her efforts have paid off. Throughout forms 4 and 5, and for her entire life really, Aleisha has displayed excellent time management skills and dedication. Aleisha truly deserves these results and I thank God for blessing her with intelligence, understanding and a positive attitude. Aleisha is a blessing to the family," Judge Roberts said.

For Aleisha is feels good. "I'm incredibly happy right now. It feels great to be making my family and my country proud. My grades are the result of a lot of hard work and dedication. It was all well worth it."

She will be attending Andover boarding school in Massachusetts the United States to pursue studies in medicine and to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery.