His home and school were devastiated by Tropical Cyclone Yasa.

Jeshwindra Prasad, 18, even had to sit his papers in another school. But all that failed to stop him from scoring the highest marks in the Fiji Year 12 examination for his school.

Lekutu Secondary School was among the many schools in the Northern Division that suffered severe damage when the storm made landfall last December.

Now, the young lad intends to complete his Year 13 at the same school as he pursues his aspirations of becoming a dentist.

Jeshwindra lives not far from the school on his uncle’s farm. His uncle, Dinendra Prasad, and his family took and raised him from an early age after his father suffered a stroke.

“It was hard work and deter­mination that has earned me the good results,” he said.

And this will be his motiva­tion to move further in life.

Jeshwindra’s cousin, Diven­dra Prasad, a schoolteacher and his football coach, has been his inspiration.

He said seeing what his cous­in had achieved made him more determined to do well academically.

More than anything, he wants his parents to be proud of him.

Jeshwindra never thought that he would score the high­est marks for the school.

His family are all proud of his achievement. Cyclone Yasa has not held him back.

He dedicated his achieve­ments to his family and all those who were affected by the Category Five storm.

His marks are:

Maths- 90,English – 70,Chem 77,Bio 77,Phyiscs 67 -Total of 314.

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