UNLIKE MANY TEENAGERS who have a hard time deciding on their future careers, Christopher Morgan has it all planned out.
The new junior minister of tourism wants to become “a lawyer and an actor with a psychology degree who works for the UN fighting for the rights of others”.
And while this goal may sound quite lofty to most, the highly driven young man is confident that “something will work itself out”.
After all, as he related, he is no stranger to overcoming challenges.
“When I was young I was not expected to survive. All my family had was prayer and God and look where I am now.
“Doctors said I would not live past a certain age; I would be mentally retarded; I would be physically challenged. I am none of those things,” he said.
The lower-sixth form student at Harrison College firmly believes in making use of all his talents which include acting, singing and debating.
“I mostly do them because I like the experience. Most people enter these activities for prizes or acclaim but I don’t really care about those things.
“I care more about what I learn and how I mature as a person after having participated in those activities,” he said.
Christopher will hold the junior minister title for one year because he won the tenth annual Ministry of Tourism annual speak-off competition.
Last year, he was the lone Barbadian to participate in the British Council’s Changemakers Global Youth Summit.
“It’s about the British Council and their work which needs to be publicized . . . so people can be motivated to get involved.
“At the end of the day it is about the young people who will follow after me that have to get involved in these activities and they won’t if they don’t know about them,” he said.
Christopher noted that he always found tourism to be a fascinating subject and thought the competition would be a good way to increase his knowledge about the sector.
His public engagements are already rolling in as he is expected to participate in Tourism Week activities and attend the Prime Minister’s reception for long-stay visitors.
Coincidentally, as a member of the Barbados Youth Development Council (BYDC), Christopher is currently working on a project to contest the controversial British air passenger duty.
He said his experience at the Global Youth Summit was “phenomenal”.
“I learnt so much from different people who all have perspectives on life.
“To see them be so passionate about one thing, which is changing the world through social activism or volunteerism, was really a very rewarding experience.
“What they’re trying to do is develop a new era of global change makers where they furnish you with all the tools necessary to change the world.
“I know it sounds a bit cliche but it’s actually very true,” he explained, noting that participants are taught the different elements of creating a project which effects change.
Naturally, the young man is passionate about effecting change among Barbadian youth.
“I’m concerned about youth apathy because in a few months or so elections are going to come around and there are so many young people who are going to be able to vote but they simply don’t care enough.
“It’s really frightening because at the end of the day it is we who make decisions, it’s we who have to take Barbados into the future and make it more successful and prosperous.
“If young people don’t care and older people are too busy criticizing them then what’s going to happen to our future?
“We really need to work on our youth, get them more involved,” he said.
In an effort to engage young people, Christopher is hoping to create a new project with the BYDC which will focus on youth involvement and civil rights.
“We’re trying to create a project that’s more interactive where we get young people across the island involved in learning more about their rights and doing that through the arts such as theatre, poetry and visual arts,” he stated.
And although like all children he went through different stages where he wanted to be everything from a doctor to a garbage collector, from the time he saw prominent attorney-at-law Andrew Pilgrim on television, he knew exactly what he wanted to be.
“I saw Andrew Pilgrim on television – actor and lawyer- with his show Pilly Out Front and I knew this is what I needed to do.
“I wanted to be a lawyer and actor just like him and from then on my interest has not swayed in any way.
“Everything I do is either directed at developing myself as an actor or developing myself as a lawyer.
“I’m like any other young person out there but yes,
I am more focused,” Christopher said.
He made it clear that God was the ultimate source of his success.
