CXC Examiner May 2012 - Caribbean Examinations Council

The Caribbean ExaminerShastri RamI clearly remember the day I receivedword that I topped the Caribbean in TechnicalStudies for CAPE 2011. Mere words cannotdescribe the joy and excitement that surgedthrough me as I read the first paragraph ofthe letter. As I continued, I read that I had theopportunity to attend a week of fun activitieswith the other awardees at the Hyatt RegencyHotel in Trinidad. My exhilaration knew nobounds. From that moment I began countingdown, week by week, day by day, hour by hourtill the night before. I could barely sleep withthe anticipation of the week ahead.As I entered the hotel’s restaurant, twelvecheery yet inquisitive faces greeted me. I satand introduced myself. I scanned all theirfaces. So these are my fellow awardees withwhom I will be spending a week. Will theybe friendly? Can we get along? Will there becompetition among us? Will we be able tounderstand each other? Do I have a roommate?That means I have to share a room! I havenever shared a room with a stranger! Howwill that be possible? All these questions anda million more raced through my mind at thesame time. Little did I know that this would bethe most amazing week of my life.We all began chatting at the table. Ilearned that along with my fellow countrymen,there were representatives from Guyana, Belize,St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica.We barely knew each other but sitting there itwas amazingly easy to strike up a conversation.The table became so lively, laughter and chatterechoed through the room. Everyone had theirown uniqueness to add to the dynamism ofthe conversation. It was truly a spectacle tobehold. Here are total strangers about to spenda week together, yet we seem to have knowneach other for years. Then it dawned upon me.The wealth of this week lay not in the activitiesand the dignitary visits, but in the people withwhom I am about to share it.The first night was spent jibbing to thesweet melodies of soca and dancehall at a ‘SocaParty’ in Shalini’s room. Everyone shared theirown taste in music and we enjoyed it all. Wesang, made jokes, told stories, laughed andthen nearly fell asleep on each other. It was anamazing first night. The nightly parties becameour norm. Each night someone else would hosta party. It made the perfect end to a busy day.Our second day together was spent inTobago where we visited the Tobago House ofAssembly and met with its Chief Secretary, theHonourable Orville London. The remainderof the day was spent touring Tobago. Over thenext fewdays wetouredTrinidadand met withsome of itsmost influentialpeople. Mostvivid in my mindwere our meetingswith the Presidentof The Republic, HisExcellency ProfessorGeorge MaxwellRichards and theMinister of Education,Dr the Honourable TimGopeesingh. The majorityof the citizens of Trinidadand Tobago never get to meetsuch individuals in person, yet here we wereshaking hands with them and sitting down tohave meaningful discussions. It certainly was ahumbling experience.Though I am a citizen of Trinidad andTobago and I have been to almost everypart of it, I was equally as enthused as myforeign friends to visit our sites of attraction. Ibecame the unofficial tour guide and they allturned to me to ask questions about differentaspects of the country. I felt a sense of pridebeing able to showcase my country to suchan esteemed group of people. Yet there werenew experiences for me as well. I learnt IndianClassical Dance and thoroughly enjoyed it. Themost memorable occasion must be our tripto West Mall and Movie Towne. It could nothave been a more fun packed evening, withshopping, arcade, photo-booths and a movie totop it all off. Most definitely it would not havebeen that enjoyable if it were not for friendswith whom I shared it.Throughout the week we grew closer andcloser to each other. Our conversations weremore in depth and thought provoking. Wegrew accustomed to each other’s personalityand each person formed a unique relationshipwith one another. I tried to learn abouteveryone. It astonished me that everyonewas so different yet alike in so many ways.Everyone had an amazing story behind theirsuccess. For example Jonas from Belize didseventeen subjects and Anuradha from Guyanagot all ones in all of her fourteen subjects.Statistics such as these left me speechless. Yeteveryone was so humble and easy to interactwith. No one claimed to be greater than eachother. We all shared similar success stories.Each of us had a goal to work towards andSay cheese!Double take!Twin sisters, RiverProvidence andStephanie from StVincent and theGrenadines withShalini Singh ofTrinidad andTobago at a mallwe pursuedthat with all thedetermination it took. It isthe common thread by which wewere bound and learning of each other’spath to success fortified it.Nowhere else could more exquisite mindsand personalities have been brought together.Over the week we had amazing moments offun and laughter. We sang, played games, tooktons of photos and videos, ate, danced andlooked at movies together. Never a momentspent without each other and not a single oneof those moments regretted. It still astoundsme that such similar people like me exist. Ohhow I wish I knew them sooner!But alas, it could not last forever as ourweek drew to an end. The final gala event wasthe Awards Ceremony itself. It was superblyorganised and delightfully showcased allof Trinidad and Tobago’s cultures. We allreceived our awards and took pictures with thedignitaries. Yet through it all a heavy shadowloomed over. This was the grand finale. Thatwas the last night we would spend with eachother. That night we all sat in the hallway of ourfloor reminiscing about the past week. Withheavy hearts we signed each other’s books andexchanged contact information. We reveledin the fact that we all became best friends ina week. We formed relationships that wouldcertainly last a lifetime.Parting was a bittersweet affair. Sadnessfilled us and tears welled up in our eyes. Wehad our own lives to get back to and continueon our paths to success. Yet we all lookedforward to the future, one where we will rise toall challenges and become tomorrow’s leaders,one where, even though we are hundreds ofmiles apart, we will be able to keep in contactwith each other through modern technology.I am happy to say the present in both sense ofthe word, had now become our future. Thankyou CXC.www.cxc.org MAY 2012 61