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The riches of St. Lucia |
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Giannetti George, more commonly known as "Gigi" says she has a healthy disregard for the impossible and believes she can do anything. This month, she's headed home to St. Lucia, where she hopes to share her outlook with her secondary school students. Ms. George is among three St. Lucians who graduated from Trent this year. Along with Kevin Scotland and Alan Thomas, Ms. George left the island of fewer than 200,000 people to study at Trent. It seems remarkable for a small university in central Ontario to have so many graduates from a small island in the Caribbean, but this is actually evidence of the breadth and depth of Trent's reputation and the recruitment efforts of the Trent International Program's Ms. Cindy Bennett Awe in the region. At 17 and right out of high school, Ms. George started teaching a grade four class and later graduated from community college with a certificate in teacher education. But after eight years in the classroom she thought it was time to fulfill her dream and become a scientist. She graduated this month with a major in biology and a minor in environmental science. During her time at Trent, Ms. George was vice chairperson of the Trent International Student Association (TISA) in her third year, responsible for the co-ordination of major campus events including Cultural Outreach, World Affairs Colloquium and the TISA Potluck. All the while, she worked part-time for Aramark Food Services. "For me, it was rewarding – setting a goal and achieving it," she says. "I feel like I have come out of all of these experiences a better person, so I am happy." In 2004, Ms. George attended the LeaderShape Institute at the University of Illinois. Having been nominated by Trent International Program (TIP) Director Michael Allcott, and funded by TISA and the Trent Central Student Association, Ms. George was the first person to attend the institute from a Canadian university. At the institute, she learned about leadership through a demandingly rigid curriculum. Based on what she had learned, Ms. George took the lead in planning a leadership retreat for Canadian and international students at Trent. Also during her time at Trent, she has been a regional science fair judge and in the wider community, volunteered for Peterborough Green-Up and the Peterborough Children's Water Festival. She planned to return home the day after her convocation and hopes to one day have a hand in developing environmental science curriculum in her country. "I feel like there is so much to be done at home generally," she said. "I think it's time people become more patriotic – people study abroad and they don't come back." She says travelling to Canada and interacting with people from other countries has given her a better perspective of the world. "You know it's not just black and white, it's gray, but it's also green and yellow." And at Trent specifically, Ms. George says she has developed an appreciation for the earth. "I've come to realize that if we don't take care of it, we are going to lose it. I don't know how people can't see we are hurting the earth – it's so obvious to me... We might not feel the effects, but what are we leaving for our grandchildren?" It took AllanThomas, better known as "Perry" 20 years to get to graduation. Though he had hoped to study in England after high school graduation, finances didn't allow it. This June, he graduated with a Bachelor of Business Administration, which he combined with studies in international political economy. Posted June 29, 2005 |
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