– The Sophia girls, now lawyers, who dared to dream and want others to do the same
By Telesha Ramnarine
COMMUNITIES are so much more than the stigmas attached to them, and no one knows this better than the three women from Sophia, Greater Georgetown who were all admitted to practice law last month.

Twenty-three-year-old Lisa Attia Gabrielle Cave and Collette Marks have known each other since their primary school days, but it was upon reaching the Hugh Wooding Law School that they met and became friends with Latoya Roberts, 29.

It was there that the girls obtained their Legal Education Certificate.

Lisa, who hails from Cummings Park, Block ‘E,’ Sophia, attended St. Agnes Primary School where she wrote the Common Entrance Examinations and was awarded a place at St Joseph High School.

There, she obtained passes in ten subjects at the CSEC level and then proceeded to complete her secondary education at the Bishops High School where she obtained passes in four subjects at CAPE 1 and 4 subjects at CAPE 2.

After completing her secondary education, she attended the University of Guyana and successfully completed her Bachelors of Law Degree.

Collette, who lives at Section ‘B’ Sophia, attended St. Agnes Primary, St. Joseph High, Bishops’ High, and the University of Guyana (Bachelor of Laws).

Latoya, of Field 9, Section B, Sophia, attended Sandhills Nursery, Sandhills and Tucville Primary Schools, North Georgetown Secondary (and graduated Valedictorian in 2004), President’s College (CAPE Valedictorian 2006), and University of Guyana (Bachelor of Laws in 2010).

Merely Existing
Latoya, the Best Graduating Guyanese Student for 2016 from the Hugh Wooding Law School, is pained to see the scores of young people who can be found liming on the street corners of Sophia.

“I am disappointed by the fact that from all appearances, it seems as though many of these individuals are content with merely existing rather than building a future for themselves and their children who may come after them,” Latoya told this newspaper in an interview recently.

She wants every young man and woman in her community to know that they do not have to just surrender and fall prey to the norm that they see around them.

“Rather, they can decide to do better, achieve more, attain the highest of standards and become avenues of positive change in our community and country. I will also like to encourage every that is still attending school to focus on their education and perform to the best of their ability; to think big and to never stop working until their dream becomes a reality. I wish that every young person in Sophia would understand that our community is much more than the stigmas that are often attached to it and that if they be the best that they can be, we can transform our community and help to mold and shape our entire country.”

Latoya is currently aiming to gain as much exposure as she could in the various types of law practiced in Guyana so that she can make an informed decision when it is time to choose an area in which to specialize.

Hard Work and Dedication
Lisa, who has a preference for civil jurisprudence, wishes her fellow Sophia youths to know that hard work and dedication really pays off.

“Growing up, my brother and I were often told by our father that we should never let our circumstances define us. I am a living testimony of that statement because despite the challenges and prevailing circumstances, I overcame all the odds and today I’m richly rewarded with a profession in pursuit of higher goals.”

Lisa intends to take her career one step at a time. However, her eyes are firmly fixed on pursuing a Masters Degree and then a PhD.

“I was taught that I ought to aim for the sky and fall in the clouds.”

Dare to Dream
Collette, whose petition was presented by former Speaker of the House and Senior Counsel Mr. Ralph Ramkarran, is now attached to the Guyana Legal Aid Clinic and will be handling both criminal and civil matters.

She, too, has noticed the “vicious” cycle among the more impoverished families in her community where, when puberty hits, the boys begin liming on the corners and eventually getting in trouble with the law; and the girls, sooner or later, become pregnant.

She said: “Only few persons seem to move forward from such experiences. Thus, I would like to challenge the youths to see themselves in a different light. Dare to dream that they can become more than a statistic; dare to dream that they can become more than what society expects of them; then dare to follow your dream and passion; dare to break that cycle.”

Collette believes that the environment does not define who a person is. “The community has

a negative stigma attached to it, however, we do no need to see ourselves in this light. It’s our responsibility to reject such negative perceptions of us and to start to perpetuate a more positive image and that starts with the individual.”

Collette is grateful for the many sacrifices that her family and friends have made in her behalf.