It is going to be the first Christmas, in years, that Satyum Rampersad and his wife, Leana Sookarm-Rampersad will spend without worrying about assignments or deadlines.
It is one that they are looking forward to with their three-year-old son, Prince Shivum.
Their closeness and love for each other got them through the University of the West Indies (UWI) and led to them both graduating with bachelor of science degrees. Even though their journey was not the smoothest, they were able to make it through because they had each other.
Their story begins when they both met at the UWI open campus, south Trinidad. They were then pursuing certificates in social work.
Satyum said in a phone interview, “And we ended being in the same class there, doing a certificate in social work. After we were there for two years, only after we graduated from there then we actually got into a relationship.”
During their two years on campus, Satyum and Leana developed “a really good friendship.”
While studying for her certificate, Leana was having some challenges with a particular assignment.
“It was a difficult assignment and for some reason, I could not get the grasp of this assignment and I could not understand it.
“Satyum, on the other hand, he had almost completed his assignment and I could not start mine, as I did not understand it. I used to call him for some assistance.
“He was very approachable and very kind, very friendly and very respectful. He is a very respectful person. So I felt comfortable enough to approach him.
“He used to help me with my assignments and tell me where I what I needed to do.”
They were both also working, Leana in Port of Spain and Satyum doing part-time jobs.
“The same month that we graduated from south campus, I got through in the government service. At first, I got through to Port of Spain and she was the only person that I knew working (in) Port of Spain.
“When I told her, she was happy that I got through to work in Port of Spain and both of us were from south to travel and things like that,” Satyum said.
However, he did not accept the position, but instead requested something closer and was posted in Couva.
“She was a bit disappointed at that time and eventually we kept on communicating. From there we used to meet and we signed up that same year to go St Augustine,” he said.
They both applied to UWI, St Augustine in 2013.
They also decided to get married and build a house.
“We took the first year, during the first semester... we took it off to get married and complete the house,” Satyum said.
They were unable to finish the house, but got it into a liveable condition. The couple took 2013-2014 off and resumed their studies in 2014.
Leana said getting their degrees was not easy. She added, “Our time at St Augustine was really hard. There isn’t any other way I can describe it. It was just difficult.”
At the time they were both doing full-time jobs and Lean
