An Elgin Academy pupil who wants to devote her life to helping fellow diabetics is celebrating a string of As in her exam results.
Lilly Laughlan, who was diagnosed with diabetes aged 13, achieved seven As and a B in her National 5s.
The 16-year-old wasn’t affected by yesterday’s technical issues, having chosen to receive her results the old-fashioned way by post, rather than by email or text.
When the postie duly delivered the fateful envelope at 12pm, Lilly was stunned at what she saw.
‘I just started crying, I was so surprised’: Elgin Academy pupil’s family ‘buzzing’
Staring back at her were a set of results that didn’t match her own predictions in the slightest.
“I did a little prediction list before I got my results, and I predicted a D in Applications in Mathematics, a B in Maths, a C in Home Economics. So I wasn’t expecting this at all.
“Now that I think about it, the B in Modern Studies does annoy me a bit. But to be fair, I did not expect to get that many As, far from it.
“When I first saw my results I started crying. I was so happy. I was so surprised, honestly, I just started crying.
“I was really happy because I actually thought I was going to fail Biology, and I’m taking Higher Human Biology and obviously if I’d failed at National 5 then I wouldn’t be able to take the course.”
Lilly’s mum and dad took her out for dinner to celebrate, and mum Jennifer was still so chuffed on waking up this morning that she took Lilly out for breakfast.
“They’re really happy with me, my Grandad as well, they’re buzzing for me.
“It feels so much better to have got the results, it was such a build-up of stress the whole summer waiting for it.
“And then yesterday morning, waiting for the envelope to come through the door was…yeah.
“It’s a huge weight off my shoulders. It feels like I can finally enjoy the summer.”
‘My diagnosis made me a lot more confident’
That said, Lilly isn’t resting on her laurels and has her sights set high, as far as future plans are concerned.
She starts S5 at Elgin Academy next week, and needs a string of As again, this time in her Highers – she’s taking Human Biology, Maths, Chemistry, English, and Art & Design.
She wants to study medicine at university, and her motivation is a very personal one.
“I’ll need to get all As in my Highers next year if I want to do that, but that’s what I’m aiming to do. I’m going to try.
“I’m Type 1 diabetic, so I think it springs from that. I’m quite involved in that and have quite a lot of knowledge already on things to do with diabetes.
“After being diagnosed at 13, it made me a lot more confident, and I know that sounds wrong because you’d think that it would bring your confidence down.
“But it’s pushed me to do better, because a lot of people assume that you can’t really do well if you’ve got disabilities, but you can.
“I mean I’ve got a general interest in chemistry and biology anyway, but through having diabetes I’ve had to learn a bit more as well.
“The idea behind doing medicine is to help people who are in the same situation as me, 100%.”
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