Mc Nair scholarship winner is a true Trini at heart

One can only wonder about the amount of knowledge Trini-born Roxanna Thomas carries around in her head. To say that she is “currently studying in the USA” doesn’t give enough of a glimpse of her true capabilities. At present, Thomas is enjoying the benefits of an education at the prestigious York College, where she is pursuing a PhD in Political Science, made possible through the York College Mc Nair Scholars Programme (this February). She’s collected many accolades before that achievement, including making the Who’s Who Among the Student’s in American Universities and Colleges Awards list, and even having her poem “An Eternity of Bliss” published in the 2001 edition of the International Library of Poetry collection. And that’s only a small portion of what she’s done, or is capable of. Her academic abilities were seen from as early as four years of age as a pupil of Daniel Chappic Kindergarten, where her father Randy Thomas (an Estate Corporal at Lake Asphalt Trinidad and Tobago) noticed her reading [and understanding] the newspaper. “I knew she was smart, but when I saw how she was devouring books one after the other, I had to take even more notice,” he said, smiling. “I would visit them (Roxanna and her mother Gertrude Stafford) in Brooklyn from time to time, and I was blown away by how much she was learning things so quickly.”

While at Granville Moods Elementary School, Thomas insisted that she was going to become a doctor and delved into all the sciences, including biology. She became an “over achiever”, collecting awards and certificates by the dozen for Excellence in Academics, Good Citizenship and even copping the Golden Record of Achievement Award. This earned her a trip to Washington and a meeting with former Mayor of NY David Dinkins. By the late 90s, she had earned her full diploma and was ready to enter John Adams High School. Not surprisingly, she would only spend a day there. “The principal called her mom to say that Roxanna would be just wasting time there,” said her father. “She told us that she should send in her resume to any university of her choice, which she did.” The school of choice would be York College — City University New York, where she hoped to realise her dream of becoming a doctor of pathology, but it was not meant to be. Said Randy: “You see, as part of their training, the students have to work with cadavers from time to time, and on this particular day there was an incident where a small child was thrown from a building. “Unfortunately, that was her day to do a post mortem, which she just could not perform. The trauma of it was too much for her. It was at that moment she decided that pathology was not for her.” Were it not for the intervention of Cheryl Adams, one of her teachers in the Science Department (who advised Thomas not to quit), the school would have never known of her other capabilities.

She changed her major to Political Science, continuing her credits and showing the same determination as before. Her hard work and efforts were soon recognised by the school board, who noted her accelerated courses and recommended her for the Robert Mc Nair Scholarship, which is given to talented minorities after their completion of a Baccalaureate degree. It also entails their doing research with a faculty mentor, who in her case was Dr Francis Tenywa, an Associate Professor from Africa. She’s certainly come a long way from her days in La Brea and is busier than the average student. At present Roxanna Thomas is preparing for the Annual Mc Nair Students National Conference, which takes place in Pennsylvania this year, where she plans to present her work at Penn State (her research is on International Politics). She also works part-time at City Hall’s Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications. She’s also made the Dean’s list this year and hopes to complete her degree within the next two years. And just last year she was a Biology teacher at the Manhattan Community College. “I was hoping for a break this year,” she said via telephone on her way to campus. “I did come home to Trinidad last year, and did a lot of work with the Ministry of Community Development, giving lectures to students. It’s really busy for me, because I’m involved in so many things. I was just elected as Communications Council President, which is a sort of Public Relations position. It’s going to be my first experience with television production, because the campus has its own newspaper, TV and radio station. It’s gonna be a lot to learn, but I’m really looking forward to it all.” As for her family, her mother Gertrude works hard as a part-time member of the NYPD as a Police Officer and is also an acting Lieutenant with the NY City Hospital. Father Randy has been travelling back and forth, helping financially in any way he can, supporting his daughter all the way. “I just want to say that I thank God for his blessings with her and her scholastic achievements,” he said humbly. “Plus I want to give special thanks to the people at Lake Asphalt, such as Gerald Richard, Hayden Newton and Wayne Woods. They’ve assisted us in so many ways and I am really grateful for it all. She is truly an exceptional young woman.”