CXC Examiner May 2012 - Caribbean Examinations Council

The Caribbean ExaminerCXC NEWSCXC Top Awardees’TNT experienceSamantha KhanThe call came around nine in themorning. I can’t remember much of what Iwas doing, only that I thought it was strangefor my former high school to be contacting meat that hour of the day. My mother answeredthe phone and within a few seconds her eyeswidened, shooting me a meaningful glance. Icould tell from her tone that it was good news.But calling this particular bit of news “good”might be one of the biggest understatementsthat I have ever made. Good? Maybe.Fantastic? Closer. Life-changing? Definitely.The feeling of being named one of CXC’stop awardees is almost indescribable. It wasa mixture of shock, excitement, joy, extremeaccomplishment and even a little confusion. Ifelt certain that they had made a mistake. It wasonly when we, the awardees, were all gatheredaround the dining table at the Hyatt RegencyHotel did I really understand that it was nota mistake. We fell into such warm chatter,getting to know each other as we laughed aboutnothing at all, and it was clear that we werealways meant to be friends. Thus began one ofthe most memorable weeks of my life.The days were spent on an action-packedofficial schedule and the nights trying to evadesleep as long as humanly possible. We metboth the President and Minister of Education(events that only occur in the land of dreams),visited many historical sites and experiencedthe culture of Trinidad and Tobago like neverbefore. Each moment was exciting, enrichingand almost surreal. We spent our bus rideslaughing, singing and generally making noiseas we tried to get as much as we could outof every second with each other. Sometimesthough, we were completely silent when atlast we gave in to the fatigue dragging at oureyelids and said, “Ok, let’s sleep now so we canwake tonight.” And wake we did. Every night,without fail, we gathered in a different room58 MAY 2012 www.cxc.org