The PSLE signals a long journey filled with anguish, sweat and tears. For Celeste, the journey was fraught with much more hardship.
Celeste was diagnosed with a brain tumour when she was only in Primary 1.
The New Paper found out that in 2010, Celeste started to experience headaches while showering or climbing stairs. The pain was "unbearable" for her, an unusual statement for someone who mentioned that she has a high tolerance for pain.
After a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, it was found that she had a brain tumour the size of a table tennis ball. This terrible news meant that Celeste had to go through surgery at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) and had to go through 15 months of radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
These treatments weakened her physically and resulted in several side effects.
Celeste now needs a lifetime medication due to the side effects, where her pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands were affected. She also requires growth hormone replacement therapy.
But this did not deter her, and she went back to Nanyang Primary after the treatment.
Her problems did not just stop there. The brain tumour had left her with memory lapses and increased difficulty in grasping concepts. High-frequency hearing loss and compromised motor skills lead to her finding difficulties in doing her work.
Despite situations where Celeste would "hide in the toilet to escape the noise", when her class became too noisy, she persevered.
Celeste's parents supported her all the way.
Her dad, Mr Astro Chang, shared, "Academic results are not our main concern. As long as she does her best - maybe it's not good enough for the world, but it's good enough for us."
Celeste did not go through the arduous journey alone. Mr Chang left his position of being the South-east Asia director of sales for a multinational company when Celeste left school back in 2010.
Their family bonded together through these trying times and maintained a positive outlook even with all the bad news coming their way.
Mr Chang quipped,
"We learned to appreciate life. I used to chase after things like a bigger home and a bigger car, but now I worry about different things.
"The family kept each other going. I learned that being with my kids and teaching them the right things in life were more important."
Celeste added:
"To the other children and people who may be experiencing what I have gone through, don't lose hope and make the best of your life."
Hard work and perseverance certainly pays off! Check out this other article of how someone's determination (no matter what his obstacles were) led him to success in life.
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