TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS FOR A CHANGE: Open schol for Laventille youth Originally printed at trinidadexpress/news/Open-schol-for-Laventille-youth-279224542.html By \\\\\ Camille Hunte October 14, 2014 NINETEEN-YEAR-OLD Marvin McKenzie, who was featured recently in the Express series, “From Laventille With Love”, has yet another achievement to add to his list of successes. The teenager is the sole Open scholarship winner at Fatima College, Port of Spain, this year. The school won one Open scholarship and four Additional scholarships in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). McKenzie won the first Business Open scholarship at the Mucurapo Road school. Contacted yesterday, McKenzie, who is currently studying economics and statistics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine, said he was “completely overwhelmed”. McKenzie, who lives in the troubled Trou Macaque, Laventille, area, previously shared his inspirational story of overcoming hardship, saying there were days when he had nothing to eat but “pack soup”. Despite this, the youngster remained focused, knowing education would grant him a way out of those circumstances. “I feel like it is a dream come true. All my hard work over the last seven years has paid off.” McKenzie said he could never have accomplished so much without the support of his church, his mother and his uncle, Marlon Danglade, who assisted him financially. The UWI student said he has not yet decided if he will remain at the institution or take advantage of the opportunity to study abroad. He said he would like to apply to the University of Toronto in Canada or the London School of Economics in England. “It is something I have to think about. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” His mother, Alicia Danglade, yesterday said she was overcome with happiness when she received the news at work. “When the principal called me and told me, me and my co-workers started jumping up for joy.” Though ecstatic, Danglade said she was not surprised because she knew from an early age her son was destined to succeed. “He was always an inside person, always in his books. Even when we sleeping in the night, he would be studying his work. “I am proud of him and I just want him to succeed in life and achieve all his goals so he could be an example to his younger brother and sister.” McKenzie said he is grateful to have had competent and dedicated teachers during his time at Fatima College, especially as he didn’t have the luxury of extra lessons. Fatima College principal Fr Gregory Augustine could not be reached for comment yesterday, but the Express spoke with Nirmala Bejai-Thompson, who taught McKenzie economics. “He worked really, really hard,” Bejai-Thompson said. “I think he deserves it and I am very, very happy for him.”
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 13:32:41 +0000
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