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WRITTEN TESTIMONIAL Phillise Thomas Mathematician/Statistician University of the West Indies Resilience. Perseverance and Determination characteristics to live by. Growing up, I was always academically inclined. I attended the Lambeau Anglican Primary School and was awarded best overall student at my graduation. Soon thereafter, I was placed at Signal Hill Secondary where I excelled. The dean’s list and honour roll were my favourite place to be. I grew up bouncing from house to house so I was never given the opportunity of a stable home with both parents. When field trips came up, I could not attend. Fast forward to the year 2016. I woke up one day and decided that I wanted to achieve more, I wanted to do better. I sent out applications everywhere hoping to secure employment. Finally, I received a call from Maritime for an interview. I was overjoyed for this opportunity. During the interview, the interviewing officer at the time, Ms. Michele Duncan asked, “What my aspirations were.” I froze for a while, a few moments later, I started rambling on and on about becoming an Actuary Scientist. Ms. Duncan offered me words of encouragement and motivated me to apply at The University of the West Indies to begin my journey. Her exact words, you do not have the finances now, but God will provide. Thinking back about that day, Proverbs 19:21 stuck with me, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”   Finally, I was called for the temporary position and was introduced to the branch manager Mr. Selby Leslie. Miss Duncan would have notified him about my goals and it was smooth sailing from there on. I worked hard and saved my remuneration to further my studies. My uncle, Mr. Barrington Thomas provided me with a roof over my head and assisted wherever he can. I achieved grade A’s in both Mathematics and Physics at the Pre-Science Programme in UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad. I sent my application to pursue my bachelor’s degree in Actuarial Science. I got accepted and my true journey began. The first year of UWI was extremely challenging both mentally and financially. Ms. Duncan and Mr. Leslie were my mentors and they pushed me to apply for The Tobago House of Assembly, Financial Assistance Programme for Tertiary Studies at the Department of Advanced Training and Advisory Services (DATAS). I attended an interview where I was successful. I was ecstatic when I received the letter of confirmation. The Tobago House of Assembly has truly been a blessing and played a major role in the completion of my degree for the BSc. Mathematics (Major) and Statistics (Minor). A special thank you to Ms. Roxanna Hall and Mrs. Jael Joefield-Luke for having my best interest at heart. Heartfelt thanks is extended to everyone that contributed to my success whether it was offering encouraging words.  I appreciate every single one of you. Thank you to my family, teachers at Signal Hill Secondary, lecturers, and friends for believing in me. This degree is for all of us. Strength is the product of struggle. You must do what others don’t to achieve what others won’t. MORE STORIES

WRITTEN TESTIMONIAL Trevis Gardiner Meteorologist University of the West Indies Throughout my younger years I always excelled academically. However, as a young boy my true passion was Football. I developed an instant love affair with the game from the moment I saw Thierry Henry playing, and from that moment my goal was to become a Professional Footballer. In pursuit of this goal I attended St Clair’s Coaching School which played a pivotal role in my development. In fact I can still remember the three words we lived by ‘Discipline, Dedication and Cooperation.’ Additionally, it was at St Clair’s Coaching School the idea of University became appealing to me. I will admit at that time I only saw University as a means of getting to the United States to play college level football. However, at that time in my life let’s just say education was firmly on the back burner in comparison to football and the prospect of going to University gave me a reason to pay closer attention to my grades and take my education more seriously (My parents were overjoyed with this development).  As I made an assertive effort to dedicate more time to studying I began to really enjoy two subject areas: Geography and Physics. Geography really peaked my interest. I enjoyed learning about the Earth’s seasons, hurricanes, oceans, landforms, you name it and I enjoyed reading and learning about it. Additionally, my Geography teacher at the time Miss Hackett encouraged us as students to go to beaches, rivers and other landforms around Tobago and observe what we learned about during class. One day in class a student asked Miss Hackett about the different careers in Geography. I can only remember the way she spoke about Meteorology. She detailed how appealing a career in Meteorology was and that the job allows you to travel to many corners of the world while being paid a substantial salary. I was hooked and from that day forward it was either a Footballer or Meteorologist for me. Fast forward to 2010: I completed sixth form at Signal Hill Secondary Comprehensive school and although I wanted to pursue tertiary education I had two older sisters who at that time were already pursuing theirs. It would have been too big of a burden on my parents for me to also go to university during that period. Therefore the working world was the only option for me! I bounced around a few jobs before finding a suitable role as a teller at RBC Royal Bank in Scarborough. In 2013 after two and a half years in the banking industry I knew it was time for the next stage of my life. This might seem small to others but one of the things I am very proud of is that I never settled or became complacent. I know of many people who started jobs with the intentions of leaving for university and are still in that job up to today! I sat down with my parents and had the conversation about my plans. I told them I was applying to The University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus and if accepted I would be off to Barbados to pursue a Bachelor’s in Meteorology. I was a bit lucky because a fellow colleague and friend of mine also applied to the Meteorology program. In fact we went to both Bishops High School and Signal Hill Secondary together and was now looking for the next step in our lives. He received his acceptance email and told me he got in. I became nervous as I did not receive a similar email. I checked my mail daily hoping that my acceptance would arrive. After about a week he asked, “Boy did you check your junk mail? That’s where I found mine.” Upon checking my junk mail I discovered my acceptance letter. With the government’s GATE program covering my tuition, my family agreed to help with my other expenses along with a student loan I applied for from RBC Royal Bank. Honestly, at the time I was unaware of the Department of Advanced Training and Advisory Services (DATAS) and that the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) was assisting Tobagonians in furthering their education. I eventually heard about the program through a friend that was already at university and although it was last minute I still applied for the assistance and was able to submit my application on time along with my colleague who I shared the information regarding DATAS with. In August of 2013 I arrived in Barbados to begin my new Journey. Being away from home for the first time, renting for the first time, and even living without my family for the first time. These changes were a lot to handle all at once. Living in Barbados was definitely one of my most challenging experiences. Not to mention up until that point in my life my mother cooked most of my meals and I could barely boil rice. My only saving grace was the fact that I knew some of the students who were already at the University, and the house I lived in was made up of other Tobagonians which made me feel at home. We shared meals and generally helped each other out, which looking back really helped me during harder times. To add to my challenges when I left for school my student loan was still being processed. The little I saved from work and my family’s financial support was all I had to make ends meet. Therefore, I was delighted when I got the call from Miss Petronella Neptune informing me that my financial assistance from DATAS was approved. I would also like to say a special thank you to Miss Neptune and may her soul continue to rest in peace. She was always kind, and reached out via email or telephone to ensure all our documents were prepared and to usher words of encouragement to keep our grades up. Another challenge I

WRITTEN TESTIMONIAL Tigahna Bacchus Meteorologist University of the West Indies Career Choice At a young age I was always intrigued by things involving nature and the environment. Thus, it was no surprise that with my introduction to Geography at high school, I fell in love with the subject immediately. I remember learning about different coastal and river features and thinking to myself “hmm, this seems familiar.”  Sometimes on weekends I would walk down to the sea coast and small river course in my village of Golden Lane, just to identify some of those features I had learnt.  It was an exciting feeling learning something in the classroom, reading of it in a book and actually seeing it right where you’re from. However, my interest in the field of Meteorology peaked in 2004 with the passage of hurricane Ivan. As Ivan approached Tobago, my parents and older family members would speak of their experience of Hurricane Flora, which devastated the island in 1963. I remember saying to my mother “I real like hurricanes you know, I want to experience what you all talking about yes” and her response was “you crazy or what? Trust me; you don’t want to experience that at all.” The meteorologist in me however, couldn’t help but be excited whenever a storm formed and I was glued to CNN whenever major hurricanes would hit the US (I still do this by the way), brimmed with excitement seeing all the live reporting from within the heart of the storm. Even though the stories and images were frightening, simultaneously it was all very fascinating to me and this triggered me to do some research on hurricanes over the following years which ultimately captured my interest.  Thus, began my pursuit to become a meteorologist. Unfortunately, I did not do adequate and extensive research into the requirements needed to study meteorology at university level. Initially I was of the impression that geography would be the main requirement, thus I exempted math and physics from my A Level studies. However, it was not until I was enrolled at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus that I was made aware that the study of meteorology actually involved mostly math and physics. As a result, I had to do a preliminary year of these courses which made my study a four year programme. I have no regrets of the path taken to achieve my goal and I’m now grateful that I can guide younger persons aspiring to become future meteorologist. Support System Family and friends back home were pillars of strength throughout my university life. My family group chat on whatsapp was like a gift and a curse at times. I was always kept in the loop about everything happening back home but at the same time it was hard not being  there for many of the family “limes” and activities.They never forgot me though, and would video call and send pictures so I was a part of it from afar. I will never forget all the fireside bake and carnival peas soup I have missed out on, but not anymore thank the Lord.  Additionally, I was very fortunate to have had three other roommates all from Tobago and with whom I formed a genuine brotherhood which became a second family. We all had common interest and were familiar with each other in different capacities back home, so it made it really easy for us all to get along.  I went through the trenches of this meteorology course together with one of these brothers in particular. We had known each other since Bishops High School, did A levels together at Signal Hill then eventually took the same career path and the help we offered each other throughout the four years was immense and essential in being able to successfully complete the programme. We pushed and supported each other in high and low moments and I will forever be grateful to have had such a good friend to journey with. There were other fellow Tobagonians along with us, the dream team we called ourselves after graduating. We all suffered together but fed off of each other as well. I could always rely on these people for missed notes or help with anything I didn’t understand. Big up Dream Team!  Funding I’ve always tried as much as possible to relieve my parents of any financial burden where I am concerned. So, after completing my A Levels I decided to work for a couple years in which I managed to save some money to later help with my schooling. I also took a help loan from Republic Bank to start my journey and my parents also supported me with what little they had whenever I needed it.  Additionally, I am also grateful for the government’s GATE programme which took care of my tuition fees for the duration of my study. However, a huge portion of my financial support came from the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), for which I will be forever grateful. I must say a special thank you to the late Miss Petronella Neptune, may her soul continue to rest in peace. She was there at the inception of our association with the Department of Advanced Training and Advisory Services (DATAS), a very kind and caring individual who would ensure every semester that I and my colleagues had all the necessary documentations to receive our funding. She would call personally or via email, remind and advise us on what we had to do and with every encounter she gave words of encouragement to keep up the good work at school. Always pleasant, friendly yet professional. Thank you Miss Neptune! Difficulties My years spent in Barbados and UWI were pretty good to be honest. The true difficulties were really with some of the courses involved in obtaining the degree, like Calculus and Dynamic Meteorology to name a few. Meteorology is not an easy field of study and required dedication and sacrifice which