Miss Tobago Heritage Personality 2023 Melinda Alfred, 20, is no stranger to working hard to achieve her goals. However, her performance in the 2023 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) ranks among her greatest achievements.

Alfred stunned even herself as the top performing arts student in the Caribbean, and one of ten Tobago students who achieved a place on the merit list.

Describing her reaction to the achievement on Wednesday, Alfred, who is now studying at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, said: "Ecstatic!

“It was honestly a sigh of relief too. I’ve been aiming for the merit list after my friends kept feeding me with the idea of being on there. I’m extremely grateful to have such supportive persons in my life who believes in my capabilities even when I doubt myself.”

She said when she received the news, her emotions were rather mixed.

“I cried, I laughed, and I cried some more. My reaction in itself was lagged. I recall feeling the need to scream out with excitement.”

She said while the result wasn’t expected, it was something she had hoped for.

"I worked hard towards the idea of making it on the merit list, and the constant motivation and reassurance from my friends had me believing I was in fact making the top ten.”

The Canaan native recalled how two Signal Hill Secondary teachers, where she did Form six, broke the news to her three weeks ago.

“Honestly, I’d been checking the CXC portal for the release of the merit list till I just dismissed it entirely. The day results were released I was seated when I got a call from Miss Caruth-Jack.

[caption id="attachment_1048819" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Melinida Alfred -[/caption]

"Nothing seemed suspicious, seeing that Miss Caruth-Jack is one of those teachers you consider family, so I thought it was one of her usual check-ups. She then went, 'Hey Mel,' enthusiastically as she proceeded to add Miss Jenelle Moore to the call as well. Again, this isn’t at all suspicious in any way or form. Now my two teachers are here giggling, so I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.”

She said prior to the call, she was about to search the CSEC music list to screenshot and post on social media that her little cousin Sumayah had placed in the top ten.

“Geeking over that, I was mentioning it to Miss Moore and Miss Caruth-Jack, telling them how proud I am of her. They then proceeded to say to each other, 'She doesn’t know.'

"Now, intrigued, I said, 'Wait – know what exactly?'

"They screamed, 'Melinda, you came first! You came first on the merit list for performing arts.' I was in utter shock; my eyes started tearing up with swiftness as I listened to my teachers stating how proud they were of me.”

She is also grateful to Performing Arts teacher Olimall Gordon-Holder, whom she learned from while attending Scarborough Secondary from Forms one to five.

“I’d like to highlight Mrs Gordon-Holder for being my foundation in the arts; she was my theatre arts teacher in Scarborough Secondary from Forms one to three. However,