When 17-year-old Beestma Diana Husna Zamily came down with stomach cramps during her ‘O' Levels Mathematics paper last year, it was the worst thing that could've happened.

For months, she had slogged away at her books, preparing for that very day, filled with determination that she would do well. But the cramps filled her with so much pain that even her nvigilator urged her to stop and retake the paper another day.

Despite that, the Normal (Academic) student at Swiss Cottage Secondary School decided to carry on, working through the numbing pain. In the end, she did what she could and hoped for the best.

And “the best” was exactly what she got. Not only did she achieve a distinction in Maths, she went on to receive A1s in all of her other six subjects as well, catapulting her - to her own great

surprise – to the top of the national cohort of Secondary 5 students in 2007.It was a complete urnaround for someone whose educational path had been bumpy up to that point. For years, Diana paid little attention to her studies, “playing so much” in primary school and lower secondary that her parents were repeatedly called down for parent-teacher meetings to discuss her lack of interest and underachievement.

But all that changed three years ago. Her elder sister, now studying psychology at the National University of Singapore, was at the time also a Normal (Academic) student at Swiss Cottage.

She too turned out to be the school's top scorer in the ‘O' Levels that year, and this unexpected achievement sparked the change in Diana, and set her on the path that would lead to her complete turnaround.

“When I saw that she managed to excel in her ‘O' Levels, I thought ‘Wow, it's possible to actually do well (in school),'” recalled Diana. Spurred on to follow in her sister's footsteps, she immediately set out to change the way she viewed her studies. “But I suppose it was also partly because that's when my parents started to expect me to do as well as my sister,” she added, laughing. Immediately, Diana took the initiative. Working with dogged determination and a desire to succeed, she began to study seriously, without the aid of tutors, only relying on her teachers and friends if she had any problems with her subjects.

Her efforts soon paid off, and she began to excel in her studies, though good grades in Maths continued to elude her.

Even now, nearly two months after receiving her ‘O' level results, it's still something of a shock. “I did work hard to get good grades, but I didn't think it would be this good,” she said. “After my sister did so well, my parents said maybe I could do just as well or better. At the time, I thought it was ridiculous!”

Now, she says her ambition is to do something related to food and nutrition – a dream honed by her favourite Home Economics teachers at Swiss Cottage, Mrs Lim Ong Ching, and her own interest in cooking shows on TV. The key to her success, she thinks, is a lot of discipline. Though she admits she can be a couch potato – watching cooking shows for “hours and hours” – she trained herself to cut the time spent in front of the TV drastically while studying for her ‘O' Levels.

Another sure-win tip from Diana? Approach your teachers. Most of them, she says, are willing to help, on anything from studies to personal problems.

Today, she continues to consult her teachers as a student at Anglo Chinese Junior College , here she has decided to sit for ‘A' Level Mathematics, despite not taking Additional Mathematics in secondary school. Said Diana: “I'm a bit worried about it, but I'm just taking everything a day at a time, and learning to manage my stress!”