Homework 09/12

Homework 9/12

I made it to the top of Mount Everest, and I felt like I was literally on top of the world. St. Francois Girls College (which was one of the most prestigious all girls high school in Port-of-Spain) was the high school I passed for in the Common Entrance Examination. The first child in my family to pass for an “elite” high school. In that moment I felt like I accomplished an educational milestone, I felt as though the ugly duckling showed she was ‘bright’ so maybe she could have a good future or one better than mine, I thought, this might be what my haters were saying, maybe I silenced them but for just a short time. My greatest rivals/ haters were sometimes my siblings, older cousins, aunts and great aunts, some teachers, classmates and even friends but for just this moment they could say absolutely nothing negative about me. In my new high school this was the beginning of me feeling like I was a part of something greater, a group of teachers and girls that felt like family and they were all inclusive and welcoming to me. As far right and as far left as I gazed during morning assembly I saw girls like me of every shade, race and color all with the same goals to work hard, succeed, and have fun doing it. My teachers were, loving, challenging and very invested in every girl. They went above and beyond as a teacher but they also taught us about etiquette, manners, how to be an all rounded young lady and to remain humble, how to dream and dream big and don’t stop till we accomplished it, how to be trailblazers, how to be humanitarians and lastly how to be a true St. Francois girl wherever we went. My five years in high school was the best and most memorable years of my educational journey.

Life is an uphill battle and I feel the same way about my educational career. After high school I moved onto starting my working career instead of continuing my studies at St. Francois doing my A ‘Levels. This was because I was the second oldest child of five siblings with the youngest being one year old at that time. I couldn’t ask my parents to continue to finance me to continue my education when I saw the struggle, they endured every day to educate my siblings and I. My future was dismal, I knew I did great at my high school leaving exams and I could land a job with these qualifications, but it would be minimum wage or just above it. God has always been my guide and strength and in this moment, I trusted Him to make a way for me. A few crappy jobs came and went like being a worker at Burger King and a clerk at an insurance company but then my luck changed, and I got a job as an ‘on the job trainee’ for the telecommunications company of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT). Everyone knew if you got a job there you were set for life, they paid extremely well. But I was a trainee, so I only got minimum wage. My mother, father, and boyfriend (now husband) encouraged me to hold onto the trainee job, work hard, be discipline and be punctual and maybe they will keep me on after my contract ended. But I had my doubts because as soon as I got paid my salary felt like it vanished and I wanted to move on, but I preserved. After working two years as a trainee and one year as a temporary staff, I was offered a permanent position as a Wireman I (a predominantly male dominated field) and this was the moment my life completely changed. I could finally afford a good life, but I was not fulfilled until I gave back to the people who helped me to succeed. I worked for twelve years at this company and accomplished my lifelong dream of building a comfortable home for my mother and father and a separate home for myself, husband, and daughter. I was determined to end the cycle of poverty and make my parents happy and to give my daughter (Kendra, she is fifteen years now) everything I never had.