Genymphas Higgs
Once a year, Lyford Cay Foundation scholars are asked to send in a ‘Personal Evaluation Report’ outlining the challenges and highlights of the academic year just completed as well as what they hope to achieve in the upcoming semesters. Below are excerpts of some of the correspondence we received over the summer of 2009.
Genymphas Higgs
All-Bahamas Merit Scholar 2008 (Undergraduate)
Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Field of Study: Biomedical Engineering
I approached my first year at Drexel with mixed emotions. I was excited because the opportunity had finally come for me to further my education in a new environment. I foresaw new experiences that would not only add depth to my scholastic career, but would also provide me with a global point of view that would aid me well in my future. However, with the prospect of this new environment also came feelings of apprehension. All my life I have had the good fortune to be surrounded by well-wishing persons who wanted to help me succeed. But this familiarity that had provided me with comfort in the past would no longer be readily available; I felt uneasy.
My concerns proved to be reasonable. During my first two weeks at Drexel, I found that most people had already made friends during the orientation sessions held over the summer. I, however, was limited to the international student orientation held just three days before the start of classes.
Compounding the situation was the size of my engineering classes. I expected that Drexel would take some getting used to, coming from a 52-person high school graduating class, as I do. Still, nothing could have prepared me for my 9 am Monday morning ENGR 101 lecture with 380 students, or taking my midterms in an auditorium with 899 others. And, even with so many students around me, I knew no one. I felt out of place and this made it difficult to approach my coursework with any enthusiasm. Nevertheless, I reminded myself that persons at home expected me to do well and organizations like the Lyford Cay Foundations had invested in me with good faith. I could not disappoint them or myself, no matter how hard my transition proved to be.
With the quarter system, my classes progressed rapidly and I worked hard to stay on top of everything. It was sometimes a struggle to keep up, but I soon met other students who were willing to help and my time at school slowly became more enjoyable. I eventually joined the West Indian Student Establishment (WISE), which made school feel more like home. I enjoyed the constant reminders of Caribbean culture: the various festivals that WISE held, travelling to different cities for Carnival, and the free Caribbean food (which was always welcomed because it meant having to eat one less meal at the school’s cafeteria).
Although I began to really like the activities on campus, I wanted to see what Philadelphia had to offer. For the most part, I explored the city free of charge by taking advantage of various events sponsored by the Honor’s College at Drexel. I was able to attend plays, 76ers basketball games, Phillies baseball games, musicals and operas. I’m looking forward to next weekend when we will be taking a trip to New York to see The Lion King on Broadway.
Despite the lackluster start, I truly have enjoyed my first year at Drexel. The academics have been challenging but this has only encouraged me to work harder and get more out of each class. Even so, I find that my education continues outside the classroom. The intelligent people that I have met and fascinating experiences that I have had have made learning an adventure and I eagerly anticipate what awaits me next. I am sincerely grateful to the Lyford Cay Foundations, The Ministry of Education and the Central Bank of The Bahamas for making this journey possible.
—
Mikhail Bullard
Undergraduate Scholarship Recipient
St. Thomas University, New Brunswick, Canada
Field of Study: Criminology/Political Economics
This year proved to be quite fulfilling but demanding as well. At its outset, I was presented with a significant challenge with respect to taking charge as co-chief of the student campus police. This year would have been my second year as a campus police officer and I did not expect to have any major increases in responsibility. However, a void for the position of chief was presented and I felt inclined to step up and ensure the continued functioning of the organization.
While working as co-chief proved to be taxing and tedious at times, this year ended up being successful. We were able to increase our police presence on campus and held campaigns to increase student safety awareness. This period was so successful that I have been asked to return as chief of campus police for the 2009–2010 academic year.
This year I was also vice president of the International Student Association. My main goal for our association was to facilitate the increased visibility of international students on campus. We were able to achieve this through enlarging the scope of the annual multi-cultural fair in terms of both the performances and food presented and the sizes of audiences that we were able to draw.
Additionally, one of my goals was to increase our fundraising capacity as a means of providing some international students with access to finances to assist with burdensome tuition and living expenses. I was pleased that we were able to implement an annual bursary, to be paid by our organization, which will go to a top international student. I was also able to help with fundraising efforts for a former St. Thomas international student who was recently attacked and left paralyzed. We were able to organize several events and raise a substantial amount of money to increase awareness on campus of the predicament of this student and to assist with his medical expenses.
In terms of academics, this year was also very demanding. Both semesters I took six classes in order to finish up all of my required courses. Additionally, one of my classes involved preparation for and participation in the Harvard National Model United Nations Conference. This event proved to be one of the high points of the semester, as it allowed me to experience a taste of diplomacy as well as to immerse myself in a competitive atmosphere of stimulating debate with top students from around the world.
This semester I also had to take courses as preparation for the honours programmes in both criminology and political economics. I am particularly excited about the fact that I have been accepted into both of these courses, and over the summer I will begin diligently preparing for what will certainly be an uncommon and demanding academic year ahead.
I am particularly looking forward to hopefully producing valuable research with my political economics thesis, as I intend to evaluate the present level of human capital investments in The Bahamas and their importance in the future.
—
Anaya Dean
Undergraduate Scholarship Recipient
Taylor University, Upland, Indiana
Field of Study: Communications
My Junior year of college started off like any other. I had a massive workload combined with extracurricular activities. The year began less than spectacularly, but that was the norm.
At the beginning of the year I found myself wondering again why I chose my current major. This was mainly due to my ‘Producing for Clients’ class. I had to produce a promotional video for a professional client. I had a working budget that I was in charge of, along with numerous other things. The process of making this video was extremely difficult and we had many setbacks. We ended up having to re-shoot a lot of our film. This task was arduous. My group was not 100% satisfied with what we produced. However, we were proud of the fact that we came together when things seemed pointless, and tried to produce the best piece of work that we could with what we had. We ended up winning two awards for this promotional video.
In January of 2009, I returned to Taylor for ‘A Seminar in Independent Film’. For this class we attended the Sundance Film Festival, where my group and I watched 15 to 20 films. We also attended the Windrider Forum, which other Christian colleges took part in as well. During the forum we would process and discuss the films from a Christian standpoint. This was a great experience and reminded me why I love film.
Two weeks later I was on a plane to Sydney, Australia for my study abroad programme. This was by far the highlight of my Junior year of college. I attended Wesley Institute, a small Christian college located in Drummoyne, New South Wales. It was here that I experienced the arts at a whole new level. The focus at Wesley was more on the art itself (for example, graphic design, or theatre) rather than work found in textbooks. The majority of my classes consisted of three main projects that decided my entire grade. I found this quite challenging, but I learned so much from this style of instruction. I also learned many new things about the world around me, along with a wealth of information about the indigenous cultures of Australia and New Zealand in my ‘View from Australia’ and ‘Indigenous History and Culture’ classes. As part of these courses I went on field trips to Canberra, the Australian Outback, and New Zealand. These classes were by far my favourite.
On a side note, I also snorkeled in the Great Barrier Reef, held a koala and a baby saltwater crocodile, saw kangaroos in the wild and in captivity, slept outside under the stars in the Outback, felt red earth falling through my fingers, saw an opera at the Sydney Opera House — and the list goes on. This trip was amazing!
Now I am preparing to take my GRE exam and to apply for grad school in the upcoming fall semester.
I cannot thank you enough for the huge impact that the Lyford Cay Foundation scholarship is having on my educational endeavours. It is truly and sincerely appreciated.
