| By Jeanna PearsonBreaking perceptions that engineering is a man’s territory, Zimeena Rasheed grasped at an opportunity to study Civil Engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology in the U.S. as she held onto a dream of studyingAlli Baksh Majeed and his wife Yasmin Majeed.Structural Engineering.Elation was vibrating throughout her entire body as the then Minister of Education Priya Manickchand announced her as 2013 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations top performer. She was promised a scholarship to study at any university of her choice by the government; the CSEC examination body offered her another scholarship to the University of the West Indies, providing that she completed the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) two-year programme.But neither of those offers entailed studying what she loved the most: engineering.“I like a good challenge and engineering was a challenge and it still is,” Rasheed said in an interview with the Kaieteur News.Her resolve and patience caused her to shatter the dogma that certain lines of work and study were a “man’s turf only”.“I didn’t believe that only men can study engineering…that it was a guy thing. Girls can study whatever they want. They shouldn’t be limited to a particular area,” she stated, adding that she always remained optimistic about her engineering dreams.TOTAL STRANGERSA few days after it was announced that she had topped the country at the secondary schools’ examination,Kevin Faulk Patriots Jersey UK, Rasheed received a phone call from Alli Baksh Majeed, a Florida State Judge in the U.S., who had attended her school several decades prior. Justice Majeed was one of the first graduates (1965) of Anna Regina Secondary, which is known as the Anna Regina Multilateral School.“I was stunned by the phone call and at the same time I was very ecstatic that a stranger was offering me an opportunity to study in the United States of America without a cost,” she said. In fact, she didn’t expect someone could be so kind to her, since her family was not that well off to send her to study in a foreign country.Zimeena Rasheed receiving her ticket from Caribbean Airlines in August 2014 to travel to the U.S. on her scholarship.“It was definitely surprising and I held onto it because it was great opportunity for me; I wasn’t going to put the strain on my parents because to be honest, I’m not that financially well off,” she added.Majeed was a success story himself. Growing up poor,Rod Woodson Steelers Jersey UK, he was driven by resilience and an obsession to claw himself up to the top of the academic system. He fought his way through college and law school before becoming a prosecutor in the judicial system. However,Jack Ham Steelers Jersey UK, he did not stop there; he pushed himself further and ended up in the seat of a judge in the state of Florida.And so after hearing of the success of the then 16-year-old Zimeena, Majeed jumped at the opportunity to help her and her family. “Zimeena first came to the attention of my wife Yasmin and I, by way of this newspaper. Yasmin and I were quite impressed by the accomplishments of both Zimeena and Ms Yogeeta Persaud…and I read where Zimeena wished one day to become an engineer,” Majeed told Kaieteur News, adding that they offered to help both of the top students, but Persaud had turned down their offer since she was committed to furthering her studies in Canada.“Before reading the Kaieteur News’ article, we had no knowledge of who Zimeena was and we had no knowledge of her parents. We were total strangers,” he noted.Despite, this Majeed and his family felt a kinship to the young teen because of his past, and that they had both graduated from the same school.“We just were committed to helping someone from our village and from my old high school.At first we said it would be nice if the government of Guyana could help these outstanding students,Reggie White Packers Jersey UK,” he said, highlighting that they took note of all the publicity and photo ops the girl took with politicians, but no help was forthcoming for her.“It was then that my wife suggested that we should step up to bat and be the ones to offer help. The president of Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), Dr. Tony Catanese, was very cooperative and decided to join hands with us in pursuit of our philanthropic ideals,” he stated.EVERYTHING BEING CATERED FORRasheed has completed a year and half at the university; she has two and half more years to go before completing her degree. And everything is being catered for by the university—all of her tuition and accommodation.Majeed and his wife serve as Rasheed’s surrogate parents in the U.S. and have been her emotional support whenever the road gets rough.“We are here to see that Zimeena charts a course of academic success and upward professional mobility…FIT is a top school in the USA and the world, and it is an opportunity of a lifetime for any student, let alone one all the way from Anna Regina Multilateral on the Essequibo Coast,” he indicated.“They are my mentors when things get too tedious…they help me through it. Mr. Majeed is a good man and I’m thankful to him and his wife. He is always a good listening ear,” Rasheed said,Steve Bartkowski Falcons Jersey UK, insisting that if he had not approached her with a scholarship offer,Brett Favre Falcons Jersey UK, she does not know what she would have done.Rasheed’s programme is presently pegged at US$50,000 and that figure is rising with every year she spends at the university. “I’m also very grateful to the university for supporting me and providing my tuition and accommodation,” she said.She stated that when she had first arrived at the university she was shocked to see a balance of male and females embarking in the field of engineering. “So girls do get into engineering. So it is a view that we in Guyana have to change,” she posited, encouraging other young girls to pursue their dreams in whatever field they desire.With eighteen grade one and two grade two passes, Rasheed topped the CSEC examinations and entered in Guyanese history as the first student to write so many subjects at one sitting. Wishing that there were more hours at that time,Eddie Lacy Packers Jersey UK, Rasheed pulled through long nights and piles of School-Based Assessments just to take her one step further to accomplishing her dreams.In 2012, the then People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government announced that the two top performers,Terry Bradshaw Steelers Jersey UK, each of CSEC and CAPE would be eligible for scholarships to attend universities of their choice. However, in 2014, the then government reneged on its commitment to fund scholarships to the candidates’ chosen Universities.The top student at that time, Elisa Hamilton, who copped 19 grade one passes and one grade two, took to Facebook to underline her disapproval with the government’s decision to restrict its scholarship awards.In that year, scholarships were restricted to the University of Guyana, China and Cuba. Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon had stated in 2015 that a cost factor was attached to granting the scholarships.He indicated that during 2012 to 2014 all awardees did not decide on taking advantage of the offer. He explained that in 2012 only two top performers took up the scholarships while in 2013 three of the top performers accepted the offer. He said further that the move by the former administration to narrow the scholarship grants resulted in none of the top performers taking advantage of the Government offer in 2014. Presently,Greg Lloyd Steelers Jersey UK, the scholarship programme is being reviewed by the Education Ministry. |
