Thank God for the blessing

Nikel Baptiste, 19 years is thanking God for his recent success earning a scholarship for his performance in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exam (CAPE). One hundred government scholarships were distributed based on the 2021 results.

Presentation College San Fernando got six, three open and three additional. Baptiste was awarded an additional scholarship for Technical studies based on his performance in Pure Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Building and Maintenance Engineering, Caribbean Studies, and Communication Studies. “When I received the news that I got a scholarship I was in total disbelief. My older sister started the trend when she won an Open Maths scholarship in 2019, so being able to continue where she left off felt amazing. I was proud of myself knowing I did it; I can say I got a scholarship too,” Baptiste told the Catholic News.

He is an undergraduate Civil Engineering student at The University of the West Indies, St Augustine. “I will be continuing my degree there and hopefully move on to do my Masters afterwards,” he said. Baptiste’s success came, after what was by his own admission, a challenging two years because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Classes were shifted to online and communicating with teachers was done through texting and email.

He added, “If problems came up outside of class, along with the challenge of communicating with teachers, you now had to focus a little more because now it was you alone with your laptop, trying to stay focused on the task ahead.” He held on to faith and thanks God for keeping him positive in the hard times. “I would just like to give Him thanks for all He has blessed me with and my family who continue to support me in anything I do. I will never lose faith in God because without Him I would not have been able to accomplish any of my goals.”