This Year's All-Bahamas Merit Scholar Excels in Academics and Athletics
By Sonia Farmer
Jenna Chaplin is a self-proclaimed water baby. She has competed at an international level, representing the Bahamas in swimming at such events as CARIFTA, the Pan American Games, the Commonwealth Youth Games and the U.S. Open, and is already eyeing the Olympics—and she’s only barely begun her first year of studies at The University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.
“I think it’s the goal of every athlete to get to the highest level they can compete in, and for swimming that’s the Olympics,” she says. “I would love to compete in the Olympics. I don’t know how realistic of a goal that is, but it is something to always look forward to.”
For a long time, Jenna’s swimming regimen has come hand-in-hand with her academic discipline. In high school she trained as much as 17 hours a week as part of Swift Swimming, but also managed to land on the Principal’s List each year. Her strong work ethic helped her earn Best Overall Performance in the 2007 BGCSE awards and then to finish with excellent grades in the rigorous International Baccalaureate programme at St Andrew’s School. In addition, Jenna received the Judy Maura Award for outstanding effort and for making a contribution to the life of the school.
“Even though she was a good swimmer, she did her best in all activities,” says Frank Coyle, Head of Secondary School at St Andrew’s. “As Deputy Head Girl, she would volunteer to help with assemblies, help the student council organize community fund raising events and help the creative arts department get ready for productions.”
These well-rounded qualities and achievements made Jenna the perfect candidate for the prestigious All-Bahamas Merit Scholarship, the highest academic honour in the country. Co-sponsored by Lyford Cay Foundation, Inc., the Ministry of Education and the Central Bank of The Bahamas, the $35,000 per annum scholarship is awarded to ‘the single most outstanding applicant from a Bahamian high school’ for study at a university or college abroad. As part of his or her duties, the student is expected to be an exemplary ambassador for the Bahamas.
This year, there was no doubt that Jenna, with her combined achievements and personality, as well as her experience representing the Bahamas in swimming as far away as India, would have no trouble taking on such a responsibility.
“Because of her involvement in swimming and the fact that she had been very much exposed globally, she had in some sense already been an ambassador for the country,” shares Monique Hinsey, Director of Educational Programmes and Alumni Affairs at the Lyford Cay Foundations. “When I met her, I was quite impressed. All the judges were impressed, especially by her energetic personality. She had us on the edge of our seats.”
Reginald Saunders, Administrator of Scholarships at the Ministry of Education, couldn’t agree more.
“Jenna was a very, very strong candidate,” he says. “What impressed me about her was that she was able to balance her academic achievements along with her strong discipline in swimming and do exceptionally well in both.” However, Mr. Saunders is quick to point out that such drive originates at home. “One of the things that is evident from her and her success is her family involvement in her academics as well as her swimming. It’s very important that other striving Bahamians and adults recognize that it is very important to be involved in your child’s upbringing.”
Indeed, Jenna is not the first in her family to be considered for such a coveted scholarship. Her brother, Kai, now studying Business as a Junior at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, was a runner-up for the same award two years ago.
“I had met her brother a few years before and he had impressed me as well,” says Mrs. Hinsey. “So I was very excited to meet her, and seeing her application I knew she would do well. The parents need to be saluted for having had two of their kids up for this top award.”
Ken Chaplin, a Broker/Realtor, and Sheila Chaplin, an art teacher, both attribute their children’s strong work ethic and personalities to their two-year period of home schooling. For 12 years, the Chaplins saved up and planned to pursue their dream of taking a few years off to sail around the Caribbean. Finally, when Jenna was 9 and Kai was 11, they set off to visit roughly 30 countries in two years. Both Kai and Jenna were immediately enrolled in the Calvert Programme, an exacting home schooling curriculum that allowed both children to achieve academic independence.
“They quickly learned that the school day was only over when they had covered the daily assigned material, so they didn’t dilly dally when other cruising kids were in the vicinity,” Sheila Chaplin says. “Ken and I awoke on several mornings to find both Jenna and Kai already studying so that they could go on a fishing or snorkeling outing with the other cruising kids by noon. Within six months both kids were doing 80% of their schoolwork independently.”
“We believe that home schooling helped Jenna develop self-discipline and time management skills,” agrees Ken Chaplin. “She gained confidence as she met many new people, learned to cope with and understand new cultures.”
The sense of determination Jenna developed on that trip would last her a lifetime. Upon returning to the traditional school system, she always made sure to finish her work before engaging in any free-time activities. The Chaplins also continued to provide a focused environment, living on their boat without the diversion of TV.
“Music and pop culture I knew nothing about anymore,” laughs Jenna. “I came back and I remember somebody asking, ‘Do you know who 50 Cent is?’ And I said, ‘No, I’ve been listening to the Backstreet Boys for the last two years.’ That was the only CD I had.”
Without distraction, Jenna and Kai engaged in a variety of water activities, and it is to this fact that Jenna attributes her love for swimming. When her parents would take to the water for exercise, Jenna would accompany them.
“I’d join them for fun. I could look at the fish,” she remembers. “I started out with my Mom’s speed, then I picked up and got better and started swimming with my Dad. And then I started beating my Dad.”
However, it wasn’t until Jenna joined the after-school Swift Swimming Club at St Andrew’s, run by Andy and Nancy Knowles, that she began to dedicate her time to training for competitive swimming.
“I could tell then that she had a good feel for the water and that even in the early stages she could hold up well in endurance, so I figured she would go a long way,” says Andy Knowles, programme director of both Swift Swimming and Swim America, an educational swimming programme that pairs beginners with experienced trainers. “As a coach, you look for kids who are willing to push themselves and hurt a bit in practice and not ease up or give up if it starts to get hard, and she was always one who pushed herself and didn’t complain and always tried hard at whatever we gave her to do.”
Jenna’s parents believe it was Andy who “saw an ability in Jenna that he fostered into a passion.” It is this zeal that has led to Jenna’s involvement in local and international swim meets and now drives her to do her best as part of the Pacific Tigers Varsity team at her college. Already vigorously training for the beginning of swimming season, Jenna loves being a part of a “close-knit” team. She witnessed this family-like bond when visiting the campus, and it became the deciding factor when choosing among the eight colleges she had applied to.
It was important for Jenna to find a Division 1 school that would allow her to keep swimming as part of her routine. Even during her hardest period in high school, the International Baccalaureate’s second year, she continued to train daily, believing that the routine of swimming alone held her together.
However, Jenna is a strong advocate of a well-rounded education. Though she is majoring in visual arts, she opted for a Liberal Arts college that would continue to encourage her curiosity in a variety of subjects, as opposed to a Fine Arts college that would focus her energies into one venue.
“I do feel that there are many different ways of learning, and art, like athletics, is just another way to do that,” she says. “The best way to learn is to be well-rounded and to try and get the most out of everything. It’s not just about learning all the facts in the biology textbook, but also learning about other things as well.”
Knowing that she is the recipient of The All-Bahamas Merit Scholarship drives her to try even harder to make a difference in the Bahamas.
“Jenna has sacrificed a lot of her social life to her academic and swimming commitments and Ken and I were pleased that she reaped such a prestigious reward,” says Sheila Chaplin. “We hope she will learn well, ponder the problems she believes to be important to us living in a small island nation and discover ways to implement solutions. We know that Jenna can be successful at whatever she wants to do in life, and hope she will find something to do that is valuable to the Bahamas.”
Already, Jenna has big goals, but after the example her parents set in following their dreams, she knows it takes dedication and hard work to get there. Once she finishes college, she hopes to use her studio art degree to study Art Therapy at the graduate level, combining art with psychology and teaching in order to address social and learning disabilities. She is no stranger to working with children to focus their energies in a positive direction, as she often volunteered with Swim America.
“Jenna came after school and helped us with the coaching. She was one of the most reliable and trustworthy coaches we had,” Andy Knowles says. “She’s a real good worker with kids. We could put her in any level, and station, and she could handle it and do well.”
Jenna once worked with a deaf girl as part of the programme, and although she admits it was challenging at times, she believes that swimming provided the girl with a positive way to express herself, and is happy that the youngster has now moved on to competitive swimming.
Jenna hopes to return to the Bahamas to teach that self-expression can come in a productive, creative form.
“I definitely plan to return to the Bahamas because it’s a country that’s given me so much in both academics and athletics, and definitely this scholarship, so I definitely want to give back to the country and live there,” she says. “I want to work with the youth of the country because I feel that’s where a lot of the issues of our country fall. Whether teaching art lessons or using art therapy methods, I want to help them focus their energy in a more positive direction because I think a lot of young people get sucked into negative areas. We have so much crime and it’s mostly focused in under 21-year-olds, and I would like to see that change. Art would just be another way to get children out of the streets, out of fights.”
Whether Jenna continues to inspire the youth through teaching art or swimming, or whether she sets an example for them as a well-rounded athlete one day at the Olympics, there is no doubt that the All-Bahamas Merit Scholarship has given her an opportunity to improve her country in the critically important area of education.
“I would like to see a way to marry all of the talents and skills of the All-Bahamas Merit recipients and somehow find a way we can use them to reach other high school kids to help them see how work pays off and how, if they work toward their goals, they can be readily achieved,” says Monique Hinsey.
As for Jenna, her modesty comes out when she hears praise, believing anyone can achieve what she has through applying the same level of dedication. It is undoubtedly this quality in her that provides inspiration to all students. She once heard Andy Knowles’s son, Jeremy — himself an Olympic swimmer — say, “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” She flexes her muscles, more sore than ever from her new rigorous training schedule, and laughs, “Sometimes, pain is just pain. However, you do have to work hard to succeed. But you can do it. Anyone can do it.”
Sonia Farmer received a scholarship from Lyford Cay Foundation, Inc. in 2005. She graduated with a BFA in Writing from Pratt Institute in May 2009, earning the Thesis Award and the Award for Academic Excellence in her department. Sonia has taken internships under bookbinding, letterpress, printmaking and papermaking artists to find ways to combine text and visual art, and plans to earn a dual MFA in Writing and Bookbinding in the future. Her poetry has appeared in several Caribbean and New York literary journals. She is a contributing editor to ‘Tongues of the Ocean,’ ‘The Corresponding Society’ and ‘Small Anchor Press’ and has created her own small, Nassau-based enterprise, ‘Poinciana Press.’
