Top performers speak of how they ensured they replicated their success

What do this year's leading KCSE girl and boy have in common?

Naomi Kawira Kirimi of Pangani Girls and Alliance High School's Kamau Brian Maina both registered sterling performance in the 2013 Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.

Naomi scored 422 marks at Chogoria Primary School while Brian registered 407 marks in his KCPE exam.

Wednesday, Meru was in the news again as it produced the top student nationally. Kirimi hails from Meru.

Naomi was overwhelmed with joy as soon as news came in that she topped with a score of 87.011 points.

But performance by Mt Kenya East regional giants was lacklustre with only three schools making it to the top 100 school nationally.

Second best

Just last month, another Meru girl - Sharon Nkatha Murega of Kathingiri Primary School – a public school – emerged the second best student in KCPE exam.

Speaking at the Chogoria Mission Hospital in Tharaka Nithi County where her mother works as a nurse, Naomi said she did not expect to be the top nationally.

The family hails from Kithurine, South Imenti in the neighbouring Meru County.

Her father Kirimi Murungi is a teacher at Kinoru Primary School in Meru town.

She said she could not believe she was the top students but hundreds of friends and family members who called her made her believe the good news.

“l trusted in God, l was focused and determined, l really worked hard and concentrated. I expected good results but honestly, l did not expect to be the first in the country. It was such a shock,” she said.

The calm but jovial girl said she wants to pursue Civil Engineering at the University of Nairobi.

Her mother Jane Kirimi thanked God for the success.

“She was hardworking and an obedient girl who is always serious with her work. She was determined and even contacted her teachers when on holiday to consult them,”  said Mrs Kirimi.

The same winning spirit was Wednesday evident in Brian.

Dressed in a red tie, white shirt and black suit, one can tell from first glance the 17-year-old is a young man who has his life in check.

To Brian’s teachers and parents, however, Brian’s emergence as the top boy in Alliance High School and the entire country is not shocking.

“We were talking Wednesday and I joked to him that he might easily top the country,” stated Brian’s excited father, Dr Gideon Maina, who also happens to be an alumnus of the Alliance.

Nevertheless, unlike many top students, Brian’s success story did not start when he joined form one.

Brian had a difficult time transitioning from the easy life of day primary school to the comparatively harsh boarding life.

“One Sunday when he was in Form One, he came home and said he did not want to return to Alliance because life was too fast there,” recalls his mother.

However, Brian’s parents took a firm stance and maintained their decision that he stays at Alliance Boys.

Both parents say that they kept encouraging their son, visiting him at least every two weeks to find out how he was doing.

“Brian was a very hardworking and a selfless student who gave his time to the other students,” remarks Maina Nguru, a long-serving teacher at the school, who also taught Brian’s father.

Brian wants to pursue a double major in Biomedical Engineering and Software Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

 [Wainaina Ndung’u, Darlington Manyara and Joseph Muchiri]

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