Students encouraged to take note of ‘ingredients for success’

Students of the Lester Vaughan School in attendance at their recently held Speech Day and Prize-Giving Ceremony, were given five key ingredients for success which they could apply to their own lives, as they strive to make their mark on society.

Delivering the feature address, Senator Harcourt Husbands, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, encouraged the students not to ignore the challenges that confront them, but instead to try to rise above them by drawing from the lives of many other youth from their generation who have been successful.

“Despite the challenges, despite the problems, despite those young people who get in the way and cause you some bad publicity sometimes, you are a proud generation, a productive generation, acting in the interest of this beloved country for us. That’s what you are,” Senator Husbands told the students gathered.

Husbands suggested that students could draw from the life of Barbadian-born international recording artiste Rihanna, who is making strides on the world stage, as well as a number of local youth who are from the same generation as the students. In particular, he pointed to a series of articles in The Barbados Advocate which highlighted youth attaining Barbados scholarships and whilst pointing out that he clipped the articles and walks around with them, he noted that he was able to put together his message on the five key ingredients for success, based on the information those students provided about their journey.

“There is a young lady who was here in Barbados recently to have the street that she grew up on named after her … and she has international recognition for this beloved country of ours. She has produced a product that Time Magazine rates as one of the best 25 innovations for 2017. And that is a member of your generation and obviously I speak of Rihanna,” Husbands noted.

With reference to the scholarship winners, Husbands suggested that they were all successful before receiving such high accolades. Noting that one was an international dancer, another a successful CARIFTA athlete and that one also had a learning challenge (dyslexia) but still excelled, Senator Husbands said the five key ingredients he drew from their statements were, that to be successful, students need to one – set goals; two – recognise that challenges exist to be overcome; three – recognise also that sacrifice is part of life; four – always give back to society; and five – remember to enjoy life and have some fun.

Without applying these five principles or most of them in different measure to their own lives, Husbands said, students will not be successful. (RSM)