DEVTA Ramroop- that’s the name of the 24-year-old woman who has been elected as the President of the University of Guyana Students’ Society (UGSS). Representing some 7,000 students across two distant campuses might not sound like the most glamorous task, but if you know Devta, you’ll know this is nothing she can’t handle.

Who is Devta, though? And why was she elected for the position?

First of all, Devta is a final year Biology major who also has a passion for teaching. According to her, “My mission is to make a positive impact on every life I encounter by inspiring, motivating and building self-worth.”

She was involved in the recent Youth Parliament, which involved UG students for the first time. She is involved with RISE, the civil society organisation that pushes for constitutional reform; a lover of Biology and member of the UG Bio Club; a tutor and member of the UG Hindu society. Devta also has a fondness for volunteering at clean-up campaigns and helping with data entry for researchers.

As said in Guyanese parlance: ‘She just like deh in everything!’

You see, she is accustomed to juggling many things at once. She shared that her mother is a grocery vendor that plies her trade inside the Mon Repos market. Devta, on the other hand, sells at a stand outside of the market just to make an extra dollar.

“Since I was young and had sense, I came out to help,” the young woman shared. Furthermore, she highlighted that she along with her brother and sister come out to work with their mothe, so that she doesn’t need to hire anyone to help her out- because you know, the market can really be a haggle sometimes.

And it’s not just to help out their mother ordinarily, Devta disclosed that this is the main source of the household’s income. And since both she and her sister attend UG, their mother has to pay for their studies on her own.

In 2012, her dad passed away and Devta and her siblings have only their mother to hold onto for everything. Nevertheless, she knows her mother is proud of her and that her dad is filled with joy watching her every move.

It doesn’t end there though. “I work at Giftland as a Sales Representative [for Couture Closet] just so that I don’t depend on [my mother] heavily,” Ramroop said.

This job occupies her from 16:00hrs to 21:00hrs during the weekdays and 11:00hrs to 21:30hrs on Sundays. And, it takes her about an hour to get home because she has to take two buses. That leaves just a few hours in the night- when it’s quiet-for her to focus on her studies.

In fact, she shared, “[The] most productive hours are from 23:00hrs to 02:00hrs for me.”

Aside from making herself and her loved ones proud, Devta highlighted that her drive to be a positive influence stems from the negativity she was faced with throughout her life.

“I was not very focused on the right things in high school,” she related, “I didn’t believe I could do it.” More than that, she shared, “So many people used to tell me I would amount to nothing, so I became determined to prove them wrong.”

Along the journey of self-discovery and hacking away the negativity, she said she slowly realised that she is a “boss” and had a greater purpose in life.

This journey recently led her to run for UGSS President. “I ran for UGSS President because I needed young women to understand that we can do anything,” Ramroop stated.

On a more personal front, she contended, “I know my heart is set in doing the rights things and maybe the other [presidential] candidates had the same agenda but I was sure about me and that I would fight as hard as possible to make student life easier.”

And though she intends on improving the school life of UG students, she mentioned that this isn’t the first time that she will be using her abilities for the betterment of others. In fact, she felt that she was like this years ago during her time as a teacher.

Before starting UG, she did Natural Science studies at the Sixth Form level at Queen’s College (QC). Immediately after completely those two years, she taught at the school for another two years before she started out at UG.

“It bothered me that my peers went two years ahead of me, but the two years I spent teaching were the best of my life,” she reflected. Now she has garnered wisdom because of her time as a teacher and said, “It’s not about how fast you get there, it’s the perseverance and all the experience you gain along the way.”

As fate would have it, along the way, she fell in love with the profession and resultantly, she will return to teaching again- just to help mould the minds of tomorrow.

“Even when I was a teacher, my actions and style of teaching were always about the student benefit. If I have to mark a School Based Assessment (SBA) one million times, I would,” she highlighted.

Devta also asserted that she would guide students, in more than just academics, but to open their minds to what happens in the world.

To this end, she noted, “We must be aware of the issues that plague the world and our country especially.”
Now, as president of UGSS, she promises to always act in the best interest of her constituents. She shared that she aims to “make good” on the promises she made during her campaign.
Chief among her agenda is to work on making the campus more comfortable for the students and to work towards getting a bus for transportation for students at night.
Devta also said that for her, making the UG students at the Berbice Tain campus feel more included and involved is paramount.
She shared that something she will also continue to advocate for is, that youth should become involved in extracurricular activities. Having a high Grade Point Average (GPA) is one thing but she questions, what else do you have to offer?

“The more things you do, the more things you will find the time to do,” she affirmed.

Just as she completes her term as President, she will simultaneously complete her degree in Biology. With no time to waste, she intends on pursuing her Master’s Degree right away- perhaps in Oil and Gas Engineering or maybe Marine Biology.

And building on her previous experience with teaching, she wants to head back into the school system to teach.

Being the person that she is, Devta isn’t going to be finished here. Instead, she highlighted, “Eventually [I] plan to get into politics.” The goal is to capitalise on all of these experiences and as a true patriot staying here to build her country, she wants to be President of Guyana someday!