– valedictorian overcomes tragic beginnings
Graduating students of the Government Technical Institute (GTI) were on Thursday challenged to remain and serve the country, making a major contribution towards its growth.
This was the charge delivered by Chief Executive Officer of Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company Joe Singh to the graduates at GTI’s annual Graduation and Prize Giving Ceremony at the National Cultural Centre.
Singh commended the institution’s 445 graduates for seeking a higher level of education in Guyana, instead of migrating or dropping out of school.
He stated that he has a vision for Guyana to be a place where “opportunity abounds” and he hoped that the graduates would share in it. Singh also hoped it could be place where the national service is again instituted to facilitate youths who are unfortunate in getting an education.
GTI’s Valedictorian Joy Romain considered herself to be among those youths who came from unfortunate circumstances. However, she said she made the best of her situation, not allowing room for disappointments and self-pity.
“I learned to make the best out of what I’ve been given,” Romain told Stabroek News in an interview. “I know what it’s like to not have anything to eat or not having money to go to school, she added.
Both of Romain’s parents died before she was six years old. She grew up with her grandmother in a small village on the West Bank Demerara. She attended the top school in region three, West Demerara Secondary. However, she said tragedy struck while she was preparing to write the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination as she was faced with the death of her grandmother.
Romain, 22, nevertheless pressed on with her dream to be a secretary. She enrolled at the GTI with the aim to gaining her diploma in Secretarial Science. She never expected that she would be the best graduating student.
“I was shocked by the news. I knew that I performed well and I got distinctions but it was not until a staff called me and said me that I had to prepare a speech that I knew. I was surprised. I knew I studied hard but I never expected to be the valedictorian,” she said.
Romain graduated with four A’s and two Bs, earning her the place of best graduating student. She has already started seeking employment and hopes to get a job soon. It is her aim to study further but for now she prefers to work and earn her own money, not wanting to put more financial strain on her brother, who supports her.
Romain mentioned that most persons around are seeking to migrate and study abroad, however that is not her dream. She acknowledged that the cost of living in Guyana is high and most people can’t afford to live here, but added that “if you’re going to take everything out of Guyana then there wouldn’t be much of a Guyana.”
She, however, added that the government should develop more opportunities of employment. “Persons are graduating every year and they are not catered for in the world of employment,” she pointed out.
Romain urged other students not to take their studies for granted but to be focused, “limit your fun and complete what you’ve started. Remember your reason for studying and pursue it. Make the sacrifice for where there’s sacrifice there’s much success.”
