First-year U of T student earned top marks in high school while taking care of her health, getting involved

Emma Brijlall Nakahara, who is set to begin studies at the University of Toronto this fall, earned one of the highest marks across all of Toronto’s public high schools this year.

Nakahara graduated from the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Virtual Secondary School with an average of 99.7 per cent, making her one of three graduates recognized for earning top grades. 

She says she chose the online school in part due to challenges she experiences with low blood sugar that require her to eat frequently to stay focused – a condition that can be difficult to manage in a classroom.

She is a big proponent of advocating for oneself when it comes to accessibility needs. 

“Even if it feels a bit weird sometimes, even if your needs are unconventional and people may not understand them, you still have to respect them and you deserve to get the accommodations that you need,” she says. 

When she starts at U of T Scarborough this fall, it’ll be the first time Nakahara has attended in-person classes since she was a child.

Yet, despite never meeting her high school peers and teachers in person, she says she still felt connected to the school community thanks to being involved in extracurricular activities, including the school’s newsletter and yearbook, and tutoring other students. 

Outside school, she practices judo, enjoys writing poetry and crocheting, and has nurtured a lifelong love of the environment and conservation by volunteering with the High Park Nature Centre. She also volunteered at the Cedarbrae Branch of the Toronto Public Library in Scarborough, noting that reading is one of her biggest de-stressors – particularly the fantasy genre. 

“You have to be more purposeful when you’re in virtual school – about getting out there, communicating with your teachers, staying focused,” she says. “I like to get out and do stuff, so I don’t really think being online impacted my experience.”

At U of T Scarborough, she will be part of a co-op program and pursuing a double major in conservation and biodiversity and public policy, as well as a minor in creative writing. 

She says she chose U of T Scarborough for several reasons: the option to take three programs and co-op, the convenience of being near her Scarborough home and the Ma Moosh Ka Win Valley Trail, which has received awards for its accessibility features and is frequented by Nakahara’s family. 

Nakahara says she’s looking forward to the extra freedom that comes with being a university student – including the chance to explore whatever interests her academically. 

“In elementary school, I was maybe a little bored and that made it hard to do my schoolwork,” says Nakahara, who earned her best high school marks in courses such as environmental resource management, calculus and vectors, physics and chemistry. “I think I got higher marks in high school because I was interested in what I was doing.”

While she felt pressure to maintain her high marks through Grade 12, she says she placed the stress upon herself and knows doing so can be unhealthy.

“That wasn’t necessarily something I should have been doing,” she says. “I think sometimes people feel bad when they get low marks, and I felt bad when I lost marks. But school isn’t the only place where it matters to succeed. People can succeed in all areas of their life.” 

When asked for her best study tips at a ceremony honouring the TDSB’s top scholars, she told the audience of news outlets, teachers and family that everyone is different so there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to excelling in school. In her case, she says she prioritized eating and broke her school day up by exercising – a habit she’s planning on keeping this fall on campus at the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre. 

“That really helped me stay energized for my schoolwork and made it so it didn’t feel like some endless task I had to do,” she says. “Taking breaks was important.”