– Larissa Wiltshire excels on and off the squash court

By Daniel Haynes
At a time when education is celebrated and highlighted in Guyana, the story of Larissa Wiltshire fits perfectly.

Her exploits are not limited to the walls of the classroom. In fact, she has dominated her sport, squash, while churning out excellent grades at the same time. At 18, Larissa Wiltshire stands at the crossroads of excellence.
Born March 19, 1998, her full name is Larissa Sakile Arielle George Wiltshire. She has an older sister and a younger brother; her childhood was a lot of fun and from an early age she was involved in many activities that kept her busy.
“I went to dancing at the National School of Dance, I did swimming, played piano and of course squash, all from the age of 5. We were kept really busy as children,” she recalled during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle.
Larissa attended Mae’s Primary School and despite her hectic schedule, she still achieved passing grades for Queen’s College. However, as she transitioned into high school, the list of activities she was doing thinned out.

The first activity to go was swimming, and this happened due to the fact that her swimming classes at Tower Hotel were stopped.
She continued to dance up to third form, when she started lessons in preparation for CSEC exams. However, her love of squash continued and she stuck with the game due to the fact that her dad, Garfield Wiltshire, was her trainer.
This allowed her to train when she did not have lessons. When taking into account the fact that her dad played squash, one might think that she was egged on by him to stick with squash, but not so.
“I love squash, it is really fun. I mean, not many people understand it or know about it but it actually makes you very fit and calms the nerves,” she stated.
For Larissa, excelling in squash was a must. After all, her father was the former National Squash champion. She placed second this year in Guyana’s Junior Nationals squash tournament, but went on to secure the title of Caribbean U19 Female Junior Squash Champion, which she won in July. She is also an accomplished doubles bronze medalist, winning the medal at the 2015 Youth Commonwealth Games in Samoa with teammate, Taylor Fernandes, whom she calls her biggest rival.
“Taylor is my biggest rival because since we were young we have always been the best in our category so we have had to play each other a lot.” This rivalry however has not stopped the duo from forming a formidable team when they join forces.
In the academic aspect of her life, her excellence in the classroom was demonstrated in the CSEC examination where she attempted 17 subjects, and passed with 17 grade ones. According to Larissa, she wrote 17 subjects because she liked all of them and could pass them. The journey wasn’t an easy one but she did it.
“In fifth form I had to study a lot. I had lessons from 6 a.m., then I’d have school, then lessons again up to 6 p.m. during the week. And on weekends I had lessons from 6 a.m. until 2 p.m.”
She went to lessons for eight of the 17 subjects since some weren’t taught in school and it couldn’t fit on her timetable.
“I used to study every day for about 3-4 hours coming closer to exams starting with the subject that was last. I studied the entire text book,” she stated.
She took this same formula into CAPE Units 1 & 2 and secured Grade one passes in the 12 units in two years. When asked how she found the balance between studying and playing, Larissa said, “For Cape in lower 6, six weeks before the exam I decided to do a subject per week starting with the last; I thought it worked really well so for upper 6 I did it for 12 weeks instead.”
She went on to add that she normally played on days she didn’t have lessons and she would study when she got home. The hard work paid off and for her, finding out her results was exciting. “Before I got them I was really anxious and it was a relief to see that my hard work paid off.”
Another chapter
The student athlete is now studying at the University of the West Indies on a full scholarship to become a dentist, which no one would have guessed given that her mother is Justice Roxane George.
At UWI, for the next five years, she is hoping to attain Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery/Doctors of Dental Surgery degrees.
“It’s a lot of work but that is expected of medical school,” she said.
The Caribbean Junior Female Squash Champion hopes to represent Guyana at the Senior Caribbean Championships and live up to the expectations she has of herself. It’s not all school and squash however, and she spends most of her time reading, since she is an avid reader. She is also a soca lover and could listen to soca music all day, since it helps her unwind and de-stress.
“I don’t like to fail and I constantly tell myself to focus so I don’t lose sight of my dreams. I am satisfied with all of my accomplishments and where I am right now. I am extremely happy with my life.”
Being either the best on the court or in the classroom is hard enough, but to excel at both at the same time is nothing short of phenomenal.