VISHANNA PHAGOO
Scholalrship winner Justin Edwards is hoping to repay his parents for putting him and his sister through school, even while they faced sturggles to do so.
Edwards was one of two winners of the De La Rue Currency Scholarship done in colllaboration with the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago.
Speaking to Newsday, Edwards said, “I would not be the man I am today without them. Any way I could pay them back because my mother and father, they don’t want us to pay them back because it’s something that they strived to do for their generation, to give us a step in life, but if I could, I would want to pay them back. Just to show them that their hard work and dedication did not go in vain, their children became something in life.”
He said when he and his sister, Jeandelle, were younger, their parents were not working the best jobs and in order to give them the best they pooled their money together to send them for private schooling for pre-school to standard five.
[caption id="attachment_1003264" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Justin Edwards receives the De La Rue Currency scholarship at the Central Bank from Dorian Noel and Gareth Evans. - Nicholas Maraj[/caption]
“We grew up, I wouldn’t say very hard since we always had something to eat, but we grew up in a sense that we didn’t always live together. I would have to go live with my uncle since they (my parents) weren’t working the best jobs at the time.”
The 28-year-old is currently pursuing his master’s degree in management studies with a specialisation on general management at the UWI, St Augustine campus. Edwards said he chose this since he’s seen the running around of his parents’ logistics company Sure Link Solutions Ltd. The company is managed by both parents and is based at their home in Cunupia.
“My mother and father, they are entrepreneurs, so they always inspired me to go after my dreams and be self-sufficient. I always wanted to go into the field of business, so that’s what I always pursued first of all. I started with a degree in agri business and entrepreneurship, I just thought it was natural to go into general management in order to further myself.”
Edwards described the scholarship as one that “helps to breathe fresh life into the Trinbagonian society.”
He said this is because the De La Rue Co Scholarship programme seeks to invest in people. The initiative began in 2003 and coming out the initiative were scholars who Edwards said can help TT propel to new heights in the global market. Twenty-six people have been awarded scholarships since the inception of the programme.
“This scholarship brings you into a family of previous scholars and gives you the ability to network with prominent individuals not only in TT’s society, but those regionally and internationally. Additionally, for me, this scholarship is a stepping stone that has given me the opportunity to leap over various obstacles. As it is no secret that TT’s society and economy has been affected negatively since the pandemic and families, similar to mine, have b
