Former Naps girl misses out on Rhodes Scholarship

However the 22-year-old from Moruga lost out to St Lucian Cheikh Mbengue, a mechanical engineering student at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. The other finalists were Antonio Howard of Barbados, Maria Jorgenson of Belize and Peter Blair of the Bahamas. This year’s selection was tougher as the Rhodes Trust decided to offer one scholarship instead of two to Caribbean students.

Badall, who graduated with honours in English earlier this year, is now pursuing her Mphil in English at the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies. She told Sunday Newsday that while she was disappointed with the scholarship loss, she took solace in the fact that she could apply again. As a matter of fact she was encouraged to do so by the panel of judges last week in Barbados.

Badall said she had applied for the scholarship "just for so" and was surprised to learn that she was shortlisted from hundreds of applicants across the region. She said it was gratifying to know that hard work pays off.

Badall spent three days in Barbados last week to meet with the six-member panel, where the decision was made.

The panel included chairman, Governor General of Barbados Sir Clifford Husbands, UWI Pro Vice Chancellor Dr Bhoe Tewarie and four former Rhodes scholars — Professor of Literature at Cave Hill, Barbados, Evelyn O’Callaghan; secretary of the selection committee and Jamaican attorney, Peter Goldson; Trinidadian Dr Carla Noel-Mendez of BHP Billiton Trinidad and Bahamian medical doctor, Dr Desiree Cox.

As guests of the Pommarine Hotel, Badall and the other candidates dined on Monday, where they were given the opportunity to chat and get comfortable. But early Tuesday morning, Badall was the first candidate to be interviewed at Government House.

She described the experience as enjoyable, not "cut and dry but more of a discussion where I was asked questions on a wide range of topics."

She said a Rhodes scholar is not only chosen according to one’s academic background, as she learnt "those selected to be interviewed must also have leadership qualities and be a well-rounded individual."

She said she was involved in numerous extra-curricular activities at school, including sports, public speaking and debating. Badall who wants to eventually be a Professor of English at the UWI or a writer, be it fiction, journalist or of academic works, says she also plans to work closely with the Adult Literacy Tutors Association (ALTA), as it plays a big part in promoting proper education.

Badall is the only girl of four children to her parents Ramdeo and Savistra Badall and attended the Princes Town RC school. She spent seven years at Naparima Girls’ High School, San Fernando where she received an additional scholarship and was ranked third in the world in Literature, based on the 2002 GCE A’Level results. She is also a part-time tutor in English and communication Studies at UWI’s Sixth Form school.