College graduation ah d-minus

Fri, Jun 27, 2014

Ah got to big up de Community College foh completing Chose-dey’s Graduation Ceremony of 743 student in just three and ah half hours. Excuse me foh noticing dat most ah de Graduands couldn’t be bothered wid what some platform speakers had to say. And den ah notice dat at de end of those long addresses, de Graduands responded wid de rousing round of applause.{{more}} Someone next to me say: “Dat is de kid’s way of saying ‘finally yuh done’!” Lots ah speechifying, but nobody dare men-shun de set ah non-cents going on at de College. Nothing bout de unsupervised free time. Imagine ah Law lecturer was absent (sick) foh weeks before Exams, no replacement so students missed all dat lecture time. Ah hope dat PS Nickle Bonadie who read Minister Me-gurl’s ? MT message, will report to de minister dat at de end of her presentation, she got ah thunderous “ finally yuh done!”.

Feature speaker, Tamira Browne, Caricom Youth Ambassador/Graduate Teacher was ah breath ah fresh air. She spoke ah language de youths overs. She warned against negative-is-him, applying de simple add-is-shun and sub-track-shun (+ and -) concept, to show how de negative influence in life’s equation can only bring negative results. She was short straight to de point. She got ah real applause!

Community College Graduation Ceremomy was midi-ole-car; another parade ah students in gowns and hats. Maybe someone could tek ah line from GHS Graduation dat featured ah brand new Wind and String Orchestra along wid de Steel Band and Choir.

Chose-dey’s program could ah bin tailored wid just: Prayer, de Opening Remarks by Chairman Dr. Keizer-Beache, Guest Speaker Tamira, ah cultural package from de student body, and de Valedictory Addresses by all four faculties and not just one.

Valedictorian, Mrs Jolene Massiah could ah spoken all afternoon. She had an inspiring story to tell, especially foh ole people who want to, but afraid to tek up de books again. I know, ah bin dey done dat. Yes, Jolene returned to de class-room, giving de husband and Past-ah de joy of fathering their three kids, ah one year, two year and four year ole while she fight-up wid A-Levels. And she came out on top! Wow! keep going Mrs Massiah.

Ah would ah love to hear Shanka Edwards who won an Award foh Excellence in de Sciences. Another poor people pickney. We both attend Mespo Gospel Hall, ah glad foh her parents, especially her grand-father, Elder John Davis, better known as Harvey, de village plumber; when Harvey fix yuh pipe, it fix foh either better or foh wuss. He fondly refers to Shanka as his “Lickle Grand-gel.”

But my student ah de year would ah been Male Nurse, Tafari Jeffery, he also got ah Divisional Award for Excellence. His citation speaks of someone who participated in every activity, curricula and extra curricula, on or off campus: Drama, sports yuh name it, Tafari did it, if even he finishes last, wha’s important he’s ah finisher. Wid Nurses of de calibre of Tafari at Milton Cato Hospital, ah feel less fearful going to dat “No medication dey” place.

There were two items of Entertainment. One by Mrs. Mc Master-Mason lady wid de voice of ah Pearl. Dey was also an item from ah small twelve member choir from St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College. My com-plain is dat in ah Ceremony of 743 Graduands, why not ah Mass Choir from de College foh dis grand occasions? Ah begging de Performing Arts Division to come up wid ah presentation next year. And ah giving early warning to Deputy Director, Mr Scott, all yuh got to come better dan dat! Community College is de Mecca, every year yuh receive ah batch ah new students, de nation’s Cream; most ah dem did music wid de recorder, some had violin training and several ah dem play Pan Againt Crime. Good material from which to harness ah College Orchestra. And yuh have de expertise of Allanson Crickshank.

As ah parent ah demand more foh de millions ah de nation’s Tax dollars going into dat Institution, looking at de Staff list, ah counted over ah hundred and something Degrees listed in de Administrative and Academic (Teaching) Department. Degrees galore! Far-rain height and Sent-to-grade from all over de world: Spain, France, Cuba, Rush-her, England, USA, Tie-One, Scotland, Venezuela, Germany, UWI Campuses, ah don’t know how de College ain’t burn wid de temperature coming from dem Degrees. But ah does always remember how Lie-Za does put it: “Degrees but no Temperature!” Ah suspect dey’s ah need foh ah greater connect-shun between class room duties and extracurricular activities. Is like everybody too busy to be bothered wid dat aspect ah student development.

Is good to see students graduating in programs like Nursing, Performing Arts, Business, Culinary Arts and Hospitality, but still dey’s not ah Restaurant or Cafeteria on de compounds. What ah shame to see thousands ah dollars students spending at de Campus gates buying food, some of which is junk! But Lie-Za puts it nicely, she say: “De students inside de class-rooms learning Business Theory, while outside de Campus gate de untutored vendors (no disrespect) demonstrating Practical Business Cents.” And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.