SIX valedictorians will grace the stage at the 2023 graduation ceremonies of The University of the West Indies (UWI) St Augustine Campus taking place on October 26, 27 and 28 at UWI SPEC.
A release on Monday from UWI stated, “Six brilliant students who have demonstrated dedication and academic prowess will represent their respective faculties as valedictorians for the graduating class of 2023.
“These valedictorians, chosen for their outstanding achievements, steadfast perseverance, and embodiment of UWI pride, will deliver speeches that inspire and reflect the essence of their UWI journey.”
See bios of the valedictorians below:
Shaienne St Hilaire
Faculty of Humanities and Education
BA Communication Studies with a minor in Public Sector Management First Class Honours
It will the not be the first time that this Naparima Girls’ High School student will be assuming the role of valedictorian. She thinks it is life coming full circle as she served in this role at her primary school graduation, at San Fernando Girls’ Government Primary School. Shaienne has always embraced a holistic educational experience, and participated in sports and the performing arts, in both primary and secondary schools.
She describes the journey to self-discovery and choosing what was best for her as being a genuinely hard one, as she went from pursuing the field of medicine to the field of law before falling in love with writing. She describes it as a love that found her and interpreted her third-place results in CAPE Caribbean Studies as a clear sign of what her path should be.
Ronaldo Thomas
Faculty of Social Sciences
BSc Management Studies with a minor in Human Resource Management
First Class Honours
The joy of helping others and a desire to bring about change in the working world led Thomas to want to be an HR professional. During his years at primary school, he aimed to follow in the footsteps of those who taught him and become a primary school teacher himself, but it was a career day during secondary school that illuminated a new path for him. He recalls his interactions with HR professionals while he attended Belmont Secondary School and his time spent at an internship that fueled his interest in reshaping the experience of employees.
Wanting to be a game-changer and an innovator, he selected his major and minor after much research and with the blessings of his family and mentors. His dedication to his chosen field comes from seeing his hard-working mother raise two children as a single parent, and he hopes to make her proud by working to be the best version of himself.
Marsha Lee-Carrington
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
For Lee-Carrington, nothing brings her more joy than making someone else happy, and pursuing her passion for medicine has brought her this joy. She describes how happy she is when she takes care of her patients and gets to hear their words of gratitude. From the young age of nine, she knew that medicine would be the field she would pursue. Though her circumstances did not allow her to follow this path immediately after A levels, she credits the support of her husband, her parents and her secondary school Biology teacher, Mr. Lander, as the motivation to pursue her dreams.
Marsha did not allow any delays in her plans to derail her and achieved excellence wherever she went. While pursuing the N1 programme, she was named the most outstanding student in Chemistry, the most outstanding student in Mathematics and the most outstanding student overall. Additionally, while pursuing her MBBS degree, her love for the field of medicine and science materialized in the jobs that she held. She worked as a part-time lecturer, lab technician, chemistry demonstrator and medical assistant.
Celeste Samuel
Faculties of Food and Agriculture & Science and Technology
BSc Human Nutrition and Dietetics (Special)
Second Class Honours (Upper Division)
Encouraged from a young to envision herself beyond the normal and to follow her heart’s desires, Samuel is grateful that her family always supported her in the pursuit of her dreams. She credits being an only child as what fostered her spirit of independence and leadership, which materialised in her serving as the Head Girl during her time at Naparima Girls High School.
She fondly recalls her time at secondary school and credits her teachers as being the inspiration for her wanting to follow a path of making an impact in people’s lives. She’s put this drive together with her interest in food and dietetics and plans to one day become a university lecturer in this field. While she works towards this goal, she plans on learning all that she can about nutrition education, health promotion and nutrition therapy.
Kyle Bisnath
Faculty of Social Sciences
BSc International Relations (Special) with a minor in Social Development Policy and Planning
First Class Honours
Bisnath credits his unwavering passion for learning and his determination to overcome challenges to the exceptional teachers that he had in secondary school. He describes them as not just instructors but also motivators, empathetic listeners, and steadfast allies, who were consistently going above and beyond the call of duty. He believes that had he not encountered these teachers and the experiences that he had at the El Dorado East Secondary School, he would not be where he is today.
Though International Relations was not his intended field of study, he jumped at an opportunity for learning that made him feel like he had a purpose again. Kyle has always dreamed of being in a role where he could not only represent his country, but also advocate for it, and the field of international relations reignited this aspiration and is also illuminating a path to make this dream a reality.
Lane Amichan
Faculty of Engineering
BSc Electrical and Computer Engineering
First Class Honours
From a young age, Amichan had dreams of being the prime minister or the president. While at Naparima College, he developed a keen interest in the Sciences, Technology and Mathematics, and while he was still unsure of exactly what path he wanted to follow in life, he did know that he wanted to apply everything he was learning towards a meaningful purpose. His passion for learning brought him monumental success in the form of an Open scholarship.
His love of learning did not stop him from being a well-rounded student who spent his free time playing football, table tennis and chess. But Lane knows that none of his success would be possible without the steadfast support of his family, and in particular his mom. He looks forward to the day when he can provide for his family as they have always done for him.
