A star student of Saltus Grammar School yesterday spoke to pupils at her old primary school about the importance of making every opportunity count.

LeiLanni Nesbeth talked about her life and experiences while attending St David’s Primary school and how the teachers there helped shape who she is today.

“I felt excited and also happy that I was still being noticed even though I was not attending the school anymore,” the 13-year-old said.

LeiLanni said her grandmother always told her that some children get intimidated when they face better opposition.

“They need to understand that there is always going to be people better than them, however, with hard work and if you have a passion for what you are doing, there are no limits to how far you can reach in life,” she said.

LeiLanni represents her school in badminton, basketball, volleyball, cricket, cross country, football, softball, swimming, track and field, and volleyball. She has remained on the school honour roll since joining Saltus.

She was chosen for Bermuda’s under-13 boy’s national cricket team in 2013. Prior to that, she was the only girl on the Under-11 St David’s cricket team, and helped win the league championship as their captain. She was also the first female Bermudian to be given a cricket scholarship, to win the Government’s Cricketer of the Year award and to play in the Mini Cup Match in 2010.

And she won the middle school girls division in the 30th Denton Hurdle Memorial Awards on Friday.

St David’s Primary principal Gladstone Thompson said LeiLanni’s speech “went extremely well” and that she highlighted the importance of taking full advantage of every opportunity.

“The children were almost in awe to see one of their peers speak. You could have heard a pin drop. We are all very proud of LeiLanni.”

He said her phrase “you don’t have to be great to get started, but you have to get started to become great” stood out in particular.

Mr Thompson said LeiLanni’s continuing impact shows younger children that they don’t have to be adults to accomplish something significant. LeiLanni also presented Primary 5 student Honor Minors with the first ever LeiLanni Nesbeth Achievement Award for excellence in cricket and soccer and gave a tribute to her former PE teacher, Lyndsy Ford.

Latonya Nesbeth-Garcia, LeiLanni’s mother, said everyone was very proud of her daughter, “not only with the skills and abilities she’s been given, but she’s taken it even further and maintained a humbleness, a gratefulness and a spirituality that can’t be taught — that is just something you have to learn”.

“I am very proud of LeiLanni,” Ann Williams, LeiLanni’s grandmother, added. “She perseveres in all that she does and doesn’t give up, even when the odds are stacked against her.”

LeiLanni thanked her sponsors, her school, all of her coaches, as well as her family for their encouragement, support and believing in her.