Rawletta Barrow of Guyana is the 2022 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar. Governor General Dame Sandra Mason made the announcement last evening at Government House, following a full day of interviews.
Barrow was chosen from among 12 candidates, who were interviewed virtually by the selection committee. The other interviewees vying for the prestigious scholarship came from Barbados, The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St Vincent and St Kitts.
Dame Sandra described the interview process as an “exciting, yet compelling exercise”, which showed that “the Caribbean is crammed with able, erudite, articulate, engaging, brilliant and passionate young people”, who are committed to regional development.
Her Excellency added that based on what she has seen in her capacity as Chairman of the Selection Committee for the past four years, the region was in “good hands provided that we seek to maintain and retain this brainpower and capabilities” of the youth.
Barrow is currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Laws programme at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus. Come next October, she will be heading to the University of Oxford to pursue the Bachelor in Civil Law.
The 20-year-old told the Barbados Government Information Service that she felt “honoured and blessed” to have been awarded the prestigious scholarship, as it was “truly a dream come true”.
“My ultimate goal is to spark legislative and policy changes that will promote the empowerment of young people in Guyana and across the region through equitable access to education and resources, and inclusion in decision-making spaces. I believe that my time at the University of Oxford will help to shape and strengthen my advocacy, and will be instrumental in helping me to reach my fullest potential,” Barrow stated, as she pledged to make Guyana and the entire Caribbean proud.
The Rhodes Scholarship is the world’s preeminent and oldest graduate fellowship, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. The scholarships for the Caribbean began in 1953. (BGIS)
