SAKINA NICHOLLS’ dream was to become a model after leaving her alma mater Springer Memorial three years ago.
However, life had another calling for her and now she is a qualified mason and a member of the Barbados Defence Force netball team.
“After leaving school, I was wondering if I should go to the University of the West Indies and further my studies or learn a trade first and do academics after. So I called Skills Training and asked what they had available. I wanted to do tiling, but they only had masonry available, so I signed up,” she explained.
She said her wanting to learn a technical skill was influenced by her father, who is a mason, and her mother, Carla Nicholls, a former bodybuilder, who tiled the house while she was pregnant with her.
“I went to Skills Training for seven months and then got my job attachment at MTW [Ministry of Transport and Works] for three years, which just ended. I like it, I really do. It was really hard at first and I was now getting into it, and proud whenever I saw the fruits of my labour.
“I originally applied for the Police Force but had to remove a tattoo on my left forearm before my final interview, but as I was doing my job attachment, I didn’t follow through with it. Now I’m just taking it one day at a time and seeing where I go from here,” she said, smiling.
As for her modelling career, Nicholls began modelling after a friend informed her of auditions for Barbados Fashion Week. “A friend of mine knew I always liked modelling and suggested I try it out, so I did and there has been no looking back since,” she said.
The 22-year-old has modelled for Barbados Fashion Week and done the occasional photo shoot for Cave Shepherd. “I have not modelled since 2014. My last modelling session I tried out for Caribbean’s Next Top Model, and I have no idea what went wrong as I didn’t make it past the auditions. I love modelling, but in Barbados I find it’s very limited and it is about who you know. And as it wasn’t going how I wanted it to go, I took a short break,” she said.
A former Miss Teen Barbados contestant, she has been chaperone to delegates from other countries while focusing on her own delivery for the pageant. “That experience in itself gave me the opportunity to prove to myself that I could get the job done regardless of the tasks at hand. Hard work is a family thing so it came easy to me,” she said.
Asked what was on the horizon for her now, she said, “If I don’t get back into construction there are so many options. Someone mentioned being the next parish ambassador for St George, so I can focus on that or do something else. Life is very funny; I may have my eye set on something but life doesn’t always end up the way we plan it. If I never model again I would be kind of disappointed, but if I get the opportunity to do something else I will embrace it. Me and transitions do very well.”
The capricorn added: “I wish I could go back to school now. The teachers [at Springer] guide you every day. If you have a talent they do all they can to encourage you to be the best and apply yourself. I had a really good time at school. When I was younger I used to think I knew everything, but as I have gotten older I realise that my teachers were looking out for me.”
To anyone pursuing their dream, she offered this advice: “Go for it. Don’t mind what people tell you, especially that you can’t do it. Every time you go out put your best foot forward because you don’t know who is watching what you are doing,” she said. (RA)