“A dynamo undergraduate student, who will go on to be a dynamo graduate student and a professional powerhouse.”
Dr Ivelaw Griffith, professor of political science, provost and senior vice-president for academic affairs at York College of the City University of New York, was showering lavish praise on 23-year-old Trudy Rowe, a Barbadian who earned the treasured honour of being the college’s valedictorian of the class of 2011.
As valedictorian, the Bajan was considered the school’s graduating student ranking highest in scholarship.
So, on a recent Friday at the school’s commencement exercises, the Bajan stood in the presence of thousands of students, faculty, admiring relatives, many of whom had travelled from distant lands to see their family members receive hard-earned degrees, Trudy delivered a spell-binding valedictory address.
And when she was finished, college president Dr Marcia Keiz, Griffith and other administrators and teachers, the young woman’s parents Don and Baneta Rowe, and fellow graduates were brimming with admiration and pride.
“I selected Trudy, with input from the deans, for several reasons,” Griffith said afterwards.
“First was her demonstrable academic prowess, reflected in her superlative grade point average (3.96). Plus she did this and graduated one year earlier than normal.
“Moreover, Trudy extended her educational parameters beyond the classroom, becoming involved in our undergraduate research programme and making presentations” at different conferences in widely separated parts of the country.
Incidentally, if you are wondering how come she didn’t have a perfect 4.0 GPA, she fell short when she received an A-minus in a single course during her three years at York in Queens.
“I cried,” she recalled of the slight drop in her overall score.
“Hey, I am an over-achiever and those minuses can really mess you up.”
In her valedictory address, the Bajan – who grew up in Gemswick, St Philip, attended The St Michael School and Barbados Community College before coming to York College – dared the hundreds of graduating students “to dream”, to meet any challenge head-on in pursuit of their goals.
“I believe the true heroic story of facing challenges lies in the single mother and the single father, who endured to the end juggling taking care of the children and working,” she told the audience.
“The true heroic story lies in the seniors who returned to college after sending their children through college years ago; the students who are caregivers of loved ones; the students who experienced significant loss along the journey and yet were still resilient; the students who left their families and friends in another country and who had to adapt to a new culture.
“We all faced different challenges – they came with the dream – and yet here we are, not only standing, but successful.”
Rowe, who has already been accepted into master’s degree programmes at New York University, Rutgers University in New Jersey and CUNY’s Hunter College but isn’t sure where the money is coming from to pursue her dream, is planning to study for a doctorate in gerontology before returning to Barbados to work with senior citizens.
“It’s my life’s goal to do gerontological social work because I want to work with the aging population, the baby-boomers who have either retired or are moving to retirement,” she said.
“I want to ensure that the elderly receive the best possible care and attention. After all, they earned it and want to live while leading satisfying lives.
“It’s vital that we have trained professionals to work with them and that’s what I am aiming to do.
“I plan to take gerontology back to the Caribbean because there is so much that can be done in Barbados and in the other islands,” she said.
Rowe not only hailed York College but her parents “who supported me even when my dream didn’t make sense”, and her aunt, Marcia Callender, “who provided me with asafe haven over the past three years”.
Griffith said Rowe’s address was “excellently written and powerfully delivered”.
“She has a very bright future ahead of her and can be considered one of Barbados’ possible bright leaders, years from now,” the provost added.