— don’t live life in-transit, Bar Association President urges UG 2018 graduating class

THE University of Guyana Class of 2018 was challenged to transform Guyana when President of the Guyana Bar Association Kamal Ramkarran delivered the keynote address at the 52nd Convocation held on Saturday.

Ramkarran is an attorney-at-law and an alumnus of the Class of 1997. In his address to the graduands of the Faculty of Social Sciences and the School of Entrepreneurship and Business during the third ceremony of the 52nd Convocation, called on them to view Guyana as a place of opportunities.

“Try to think of Guyana as a real country, it may sound strange. Of course Guyana is a real country, but so many of us, too many of us dismiss it as a place where nothing works, nothing ever will. Why should this be so? Is it not up to all of us to make things work, to ensure that they work? Too often we live our lives as though we were in transit here, waiting here on the way to somewhere else, on the way to the start of our great life,” he reasoned.

Ramkarran told the graduands that when people take their country seriously, changes become evident as he urged them to “make things work.”
Alluding to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Ivelaw Griffith, the Bar Association president said Professor Griffith has taken up the mantle to transform the country’s premier tertiary institution, because he believes there is a place for the university on the regional or even international platform.

“He didn’t just come here to run the university the way he came and found it, he transformed it. Let us all take an example from him, and tomorrow we wouldn’t just go out and run Guyana or whatever we have influence over, the way it is being run. Let’s transform it,” Ramkarran urged them.

In another man’s country, “you will always be a foreigner,” he told them, while positing that they would be surprised to know how influential they can be right here in Guyana.
“When you do your work properly and consistently people will notice; and it is possible to make a real difference through what you would have done,” he posited.

A MYTH
Guyana, he said, can offer Guyanese a place to shine if they so desire, as he dispelled the notion that the only Guyanese remaining in Guyana are the ones who cannot go anywhere else.

Ramkarran said many Guyanese living here have received regional and international recognition. “This country of 750,000 people, the size of a small city in America, has given the world the Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal, and a Judge at the International Court of Justice, Dr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen. They both spent the majority of their careers right here at Carmichael Street in the Attorney General’s Chambers where they moved up the ranks by diligence and hard work,” he pointed out.

Ramkarran also referred to former Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Desiree Bernard and Dr. Patrick Gomes; Dr. Gomes went from being Guyana’s Ambassador to the European Union to be Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP).

On Saturday, 1,739 students graduated from the University of Guyana Turkeyen campus from the Faculties of Agriculture and Forestry, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Education and Humanities, Engineering and Technology, Health Sciences and Natural Sciences, Social Sciences and the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation.
From that batch 471 students were from the Faculty of Social Sciences and 228 from the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation. In fact, it was the first graduating class from the School of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation.

It was that school that produced the university’s valedictorian in the person of Shakti Persaud, who scored a perfect Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0.
Persaud, in her address, said there were many challenges, and as a female, there were more than the norm.

“As a female joggling a full-time job, and a degree, my journey has been nothing short of being challenging. I have done all-nighters and still manage to show up to work the next day…,” Persaud said, as she chronicled her four-year journey.

STEADFAST IN PURSUIT
Despite the plethora of challenges, the Valedictorian said she stayed steadfast in pursuit of her goal, constantly reminding herself of her personal mantra – “work hard in silence, and let your success be your noise.”

Persaud said by no means is she the only one who faced these challenges, as she took a moment to recognise the women who attend university while having full-time jobs and managing their families.

“From my experience, I know that women have to fight not just two times, but almost 10 times harder than men in their professions; and in academics, to prove themselves and achieve their ambitious goals and shatter the glass ceiling,” she said.

Persaud said Saturday’s convocation is a strong indication that women have what it takes, and they can go it all in “this man’s world.”
“We are proof that we can make the unusual efforts that are necessary to succeed. We are proof of discipline, dedication, commitment and endurance. We are proof that the future is female,” the valedictorian said.

She acknowledged her mother, and late father, and two sisters, in addition to her wider support base, noting that she could not have done it alone.
Persaud was also presented the President’s Medal by Education Minister Dr. Nicolette Henry as the Best Graduating Bachelor’s Degree Student.

Acting Prime Minister Carl Greenidge presented the Prime Minister’s Award for the Best Graduating Student with a Degree in Public Management to Kester Edwards. He also presented the Prime Minister’s Medal to Mohameed Baksh – the Best Graduating Student in the School of Medicine. The Pro Chancellor’s Medal was presented to Texine Wonda Daw, the best graduating Law Student. A number of other awards were given out.

Notably, during the third ceremony for the 52nd Convocation, Laura George, a champion for Indigenous rights and pioneer of the Amerindian People’s Association was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Eon Nigel Harris. Edmond (Eddy) Grant, Dr. Yesu Persaud and Jairaj (Jay) Sobhraj were also conferred with honorary doctorates.