Anisa Julien sat quietly in the chair offered to her and thought deeply before answering the question, “So, how do you feel about achieving the 3rd place overall in the CAPE examinations for the entire Caribbean Region, in Management of Business (MOB)?” She started off by expressing how shocked she was at the news and that she was very grateful for her success, especially with the knowledge that she ranked as one of the best with top students from prestigious schools throughout the region.
Anisa Julien, former student of Swaha Hindu College, wrote the CAPE over the past two years, and attained excellent results in the subjects of Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies, Economics, Accounts and Management of Business. She currently attends the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine) where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree.
When she was asked to explain what she meant by “grateful”, she said that there were so many people who helped her along the way towards this result and she spoke of the numerous people who helped her not only attain 3rd place regionally in MOB, but who helped her succeed in life generally.
This simple and unassuming young lady, who was very soft spoken, explained that she was from the community of North Manzanilla, where she resided with her parents and siblings. Her father was the main bread winner of the family and her mother, a home maker, was always there to support them. Her mum would give advice and encourage her to study. She also admitted that she was in school regularly because she realized how valuable the teachers were in the classroom. She was able to understand what was taught better when she was actually in school, than if she had stayed at home.
Anisa also mentioned the roles of the principal and staff in her success. She admitted that Swaha Hindu College was exceptional, in that there really were a principal and teachers who cared very much about the welfare of the students. She also mentioned that the librarians at school were also helpful when she needed to conduct research for her subjects as they were very patient while she used the library’s facilities to complete the IAs (Internal Assessment).
During her free periods, Anisa would find the time to read over her work and continue her studying. She even formed a great network of friends who studied together. The group study sessions helped a great deal since they were able to bounce ideas off each other and help in the understanding of the topics.
When she was at home, Anisa ensured that she completed all her homework. She revised constantly from her notes, the text books and past papers. She remembered her teachers telling her to continue the pace of doing well from one term to the next. She also sought to improve herself wherever she fell short. Anisa also stated clearly, that at no point did her parents encourage her to “lime” because the priority was for her to get good results in her exams, so that she could be accepted for the competitive Economics programme at UWI.
She distinctly remembers her MOB teacher, Ms Alana, “buffing” the class when things did not go the way they should (for example, if homework was not completed on time). She said that Miss would always keep them on their toes so they would work seriously and pay attention.
Anisa was selected to complete her degree in UWI in the highly competitive field of Economics in August this year. She always had a passion for business. Anisa explained that Economics, Accounts and MOB always helped her understand the world in terms of what was going on in the economy and how it worked.
When asked why she chose to do Economics at the tertiary level, Anisa responded, “It helps me to understand that even though there are inequalities of wealth that exist in the world, I still have the belief that we can still break out of the cycle of poverty and rise up as a nation.”
As she ended, Anisa thanked the following teachers who helped her on her journey to success: Mrs. Kamla Rambally for Caribbean Studies, Mrs. Sunita Maharaj for Communication Studies, Mr. Pradeep Matura for Economics, Mrs. Vidusha Singh for Accounts and Miss Alana Gajadhar for Management of Business. She hoped that Swaha Hindu College would continue to have such dedicated staff and that the school would become one of the best in Trinidad and Tobago.
