A budding Bermudian fashion designer has made history at a college in Barbados ? by becoming the first student there to gain 100 percent in all her courses.

Carla-Faye Hardtman spent a year at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJJP) studying garment making.

At the end of her studies, she achieved a 4.0 grade point average ? an unprecedented achievement at the institution. Miss Hardtman, from Devonshire, said yesterday she was ?surprised and excited? by her success.

?When you do something that you love then you kind of become more focused,? she told .

Her mother Diane Hardtman said: ?I?m ecstatic, I really am. I?m very, very proud of Carla. She is a go-getter.?

Miss Hardtman was made the college?s valedictorian for 2006 and gave a speech at her November 9 graduation ceremony, which her family attended.

The 20-year-old, who graduated from CedarBridge Academy with honours and also attended Francis Patton Primary School and Bermuda College, now hopes to gain a place at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and eventually launch her own clothing line.

?This was just a stepping stone. I learned how to sew and do pattern making and also I did a course in communications and small business management and on health and safety.?

Miss Hardtman, whose studies were sponsored by the National Training Board (NTB), was featured in two newspapers in Barbados due to her outstanding performance.

Herman Tucker, chairman of the NTB, said he was delighted by her achievement. ?She received a grade-point average of 4.0. which is the first in the history of SJJP. She created history.?

Five students recently came back to the Island from SJPP because their marine diesel engineering course was not ready.

Twelve NTB students are currently studying there on different courses. Mr. Tucker said: ?There are a lot of success stories there. We should be celebrating that success.?

Four other Bermudians graduated from SJPP in November in maritime operations.

The young men, who all work at Marine and Ports Services and were sponsored by the NTB, were Justin Brookes, who graduated top of his class; Edward Stowe IV; Neil McIntosh and Dejuan Todd.