By Francis Quamina Farrier

A FEW MONTHS AGO, the news of a New York-based Guyanese teenager reached us, to the effect that she had been accepted by all eight Ivy League Colleges in the United States of America, to which she had applied. Such a magnificent achievement by students in the

United States is not a regular happening. In fact it is becoming much more difficult for students to gain acceptance in any of America’s eight Ivy League colleagues. To gain entry in all eight is certainly outstanding.

So when 17-year-old Guyanese-born, Kelley Hyles, formally of Vryheid’s Lust, East Coast Demerara (ECD), and now based in Brooklyn, New York, realised that she was accepted by all eight Ivy League colleagues to which she had applied, it took quite a while for that achievement to sink in, according to her. Kelly’s achievement made history since she is the first Guyanese to have done so. But it wasn’t easy.

Kelly migrated to the USA at age 11 and joined her mother in Brooklyn. There she continued a discipline which she had inculcated since her pre-teen years; she focused on her studies, as she did while still in Guyana, where she always topped her class as a student of the Vryheid Lust’s Primary School on the lower East Coast Demerara.

After migrating to New York where her mother Anetta had already migrated, the brilliant teenager became well grounded in that city of a million distractions; especially for a teenager. But Kelly knew why her mother had sent for her, and she was grateful, continuing her passion for higher education in the ‘Land of Opportunity’.

Kelly’s mother was well aware of the brilliance of her daughter from her early pre-teen years, and so she did all within her power to give Kelly the best chances to achieve what was possible; but not without hard work and discipline, and Kelly has, so far, not disappointed her mother, who works two jobs to ensure that her daughter gets all the financial and other support she needs, to continue her path to accomplishing her magnificent dreams.

“I am currently a rising sophomore at Harvard College on the Pre-Medical track,” Kelly told the Pepperpot Magazine, stating that she plans to concentrate in Human Development and Regenerative Biology, since that major seamlessly blends her interest in Biochemistry and Neurosurgery.

VOLUNTEER WORK
Added to her focus on her studies, Kelly Hyles has a passion for community service, and so, she decided to travel from New York to her native Guyana, where she recently did a six-week volunteer service stint at the Georgetown Public Hospital. She had previously done similar volunteering at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. While in Guyana, she also visited her Alma Mater, the Vryheid Lust Primary school, where she interacted with students, sharing with them her experiences here, as well as in New York.

During her recent farewell address to a gathering, at the Georgetown Public Hospital, which included over a dozen fellow teenage students, Kelly Hyles said , “A special ‘Thank You’ to my family and everyone else who continue to encourage and support my dreams.” As I listened to that teenager delivering an address like someone very mature, I concluded that here was a very special teenager.

She was one of two overseas-based teenage students volunteering at the Hospital, who had given six weeks of Voluntary service. The other was Guyanese-born Crystal Griffith, who is also a Medical student, studying at the University of Florida. Although based in the United States, both teenagers decided to take time out and give voluntary service here in the country of their birth.

What is of significance, is that at this very time in America’s history, when Immigration is one of the ongoing controversial issues, there have been teenage immigrant students, who continue to do exceedingly well at their studies in the USA. A few of the very high achievers, like Kelly Hyles, have applied and been accepted by all eight of that country’s Ivy League colleagues; they are Stefan Stoykov from Bulgaria, Harold Ekeh from Ghana, Kwasi Emin also from Ghana, Kelly Hyles from Guyana, Jude Okonkwo from Nigeria, Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna also from Nigeria and Munira Khalif from Somalia.

With her on-going medical studies, Kelly has expressed concern about the 350 million people around the world, including children and teenagers, who are suffering from diabetes, and plans to focus on working to alleviate that illness in her future medical career, as she gains more experience. In one of her essays, Kelly stated, “Experience has been my greatest teacher.” That recalled for me, the “tagline” from the promotion of the recently produced movie “The Intern”, starring two-time Academy Award-winning actor, Robert De Niro, which states, “Experience never gets old.”

Very articulate, and with a bubbling personality and with one of the most heart-warming smiles on the planet, Kelly was the Valedictorian of her High School class in the USA, and so when she addressed the gathering at her farewell function at the Public Hospital Georgetown, I immediately recognised in her, the ability as a public speaker.

She related her experiences while volunteering at that principal Guyana health facility; “I was allowed to observe doctors and surgeons in the Medical and Surgical Out-Patients Department, Internal Medicine Clinics, Paediatrics Ward and finally, the OB/GYN clinics,” she said, and also showered praise on the Board Chair of the Hospital, Kesaundra Alves, who provided her with the opportunity to give voluntary service to that Health Institution.

Continuing her farewell address, she told the audience which included teenagers who were wearing their school uniforms, “My schedule helped me cultivate a better understanding of my country’s medical system while providing me with clinical experience to complement many years of research.” And in a previous Television interview in the USA, she had this to say; “The biggest part of my achievements is realising that I’m only human and I’m going to make mistakes, but it’s how I handle those mistakes that I face, that will determine whether or not I’m successful.”

OVER-ACADEMIC?
We are aware that in recent years, there has been a growing number of Guyanese teenagers who have been excelling in academia, gaining multiple passes in 10, 15 and even 20 subjects at examinations. That, for some adults, is cause for concern. They argue that such teenagers do not have time for extra-curricular activities, and as such, will not become rounded adults. Seventeen-year-old Kelly Hyles strongly recommends extra-curricular activities to her fellow teenagers who also excel academically.

Listening to Kelly and observing the way in which she has, so far, conducted herself, one is left with the conclusion that adults need to be as supportive as they can, and give whatever guidance that is within them to teenagers, whether to those who excel or not. There is a role for adults in the affairs of teenagers, and those roles, whatever they may be, should never be abdicated.

Kelly Hyles, and so many other teenagers, have magnificent dreams. As a result, the matured and the elders, especially those with the power to do so, should ensure that they lend support to teenagers and assist them to realise all their magnificent dreams, and so help to make our world a better place.