What is your best childhood memory? Being the first girl to attend St Bartholomew’s Boys School meant that my first set of childhood friends were boys. I grew up with Ryan Ellis, Leroy Maloney, Mark Pile, Kirk Bourne and my cousin Ryan Chase, being the only girl in the group. We played cricket, football, raced go-karts, climbed dunks and ackee trees. I even got them to help me build a play house out of coconut branches and a lorry frame.
What keeps me passionate is the ability to bring out the best in my students, knowing that I can make a difference by encouraging children to pursue their dreams regardless of what they might be.
My biggest regret is not seeing the true value of my inner strength, talents and self-worth earlier in life.
The person who has made the biggest impact on my life? I do not believe that I can credit one person. People enter your life for various reasons and sometimes the difficult thing is actually realising what their purpose was to begin with! This is going to sound arrogant, but if you had asked this question two years ago I would have said myself.
I’ve always been a very private person and so every decision I’ve made regardless of the outcome I have had to deal with on my own. Having to learn the art of motivating myself and overcoming betrayal I built a protective wall. But having met my husband, I’ve had to let that wall down. I’ve had to learn patience (which is a work in process) and acknowledge that I can’t deal with the pressures of the world alone, vent, cry and so on and not be ashamed because he accepts me as I am. He is the most patient and kind-hearted person that I know. Not only does he encourage me to pursue my goals, but he gives me love every single day.
A life-changing moment happened when I laid my eyes on Cole Yates.
My best Christmas memory was my first Christmas in Canada with Cole and his family. It was a beautiful experience of how families and loved ones should treat each other.
And my worst Christmas memory was spending Christmas alone and thinking the middle-class household I grew up in was void of love, trust and safety. This was a memory no child should have and I vowed that when I have my own family our home would be safe, my children would know that they could trust their parents and that everyday of their lives they would feel loved.
Christmas ain’t Christmas till I get my honey-glazed ham stuffed with pineapples and cherries, Dom Perignon 2000 Vintage Brut Champagne, fresh green salad, mac-pie, rice and peas, baked pork, Bayley’s chocolate cake and strawberry fruit cocktail.
This Christmas, I forgot to say a prayer for people who were spending the holidays alone.
This Christmas, I was surprised by all the gifts I received!!
What I love most about myself now is my ability to find humour in the most trying of circumstances.
I am looking forward to 2011 because I’m going to make it a great year . For a fresh start I will (1) eat healthy and go to the gym consistently; (2) love unconditionally and smile more; (3) not be stressed out by insignificant people or issues.
The single biggest time-wasting thing in my life was spending time in a past relationship that literally went nowhere! However, the experience showed me that when the signs present themselves individuals need to let go regardless of how hard it may seem at the time. We spend too much time trying to change individuals but we cannot change a person . . . . People have to change on their own.
So this year I plan to use my time wisely, surround myself with people who have my best interests at heart and pursue all my dreams with purpose and passion.
Looking towards the distant future, what do you plan to do this year that will matter in the next ten years? Have a twin! It’s easier to just have two at once but if that doesn’t happen my husband and I will settle for one baby to share our love with.
What have you changed in your life recently? I have eliminated negative people from my life. I no longer tolerate people whose only profession is to gossip, covet other people’s property or who simply cannot be happy when other people are successful or happy. People who cannot be happy for others are often unhappy in their own lives and their only happiness comes from making others miserable or unhappy. So my circle of friends is rather small and intimate, filled with people who have positive values and can motivate me to be the best person that I can be.