Latest update November 17th, 2024 12:17 AM
Students urged to join Guyana’s diverse array of professionals
– as UG Career Day is observed
As the University of Guyana celebrated its annual Career Day, hundreds of students
A section of the students gathered yesterday in the George Walcott Lecture Theater (GWLT)
who were drawn to the institution yesterday were urged to take full advantage of opportunities presented to them to join Guyana’s diverse array of professionals.
The call for more professionals in the nation was made by Deputy Vice Chancellor of UG, Dr. Barbara Reynolds. During brief remarks at the Career Day’s launch on UG’s Turkeyen campus, Dr. Reynolds noted that over the years, the idea of what constituted a career has developed and shifted.
“When we use the word ‘career’, we tend to think very lofty things. When I was your age, there were only three things you could openly aspire to be or do and that was a minister of the gospel, a lawyer or a doctor,” Dr. Reynolds told a packed lecture theater.
However, she said, “A career is less about what we actually do and more about how we do it.”
Dr. Reynolds added that, with the right training, anyone could make anything a career.
A representative from the Guyana Police Force (GPF) yesterday showed schoolchildren how fingerprint identification is done.
She emphasised, “we need professionals in a wide range of disciplines and workplaces…and whatever you put your hand to do, with the right training, you can do it.”
Furthermore, she opined that modern-day students are “blessed” with numerous choices and are aware of these viable options.
“I want you to understand how blessed you are… You are much more aware than I was that you have choices beyond becoming a minister, lawyer or a doctor,” Dr. Reynolds said before adding, “Now, not only do you have many choices but you are aware of those choices and you are aware of some of the pathways that will help you achieve those choices.”
She emphasised that “half the kids in the world” are unaware of what goes on outside of their countries while their knowledge is stymied by their inaccessibility to the internet. She said too that Guyana is filled with potential industry-makers. She noted that Guyana currently lacks an industry that sells locally dried and canned food. “We don’t have that industry and someone in here could very well do that,” Dr. Reynolds said.
Despite the rain, students from across the country turned out yesterday as the University of Guyana held its annual Career Day.
However, she emphasised that a career choice is a life-altering decision that could easily go wrong with the wrong choice.
“The tiniest wrong choice and 5 years later, 10 years later, 20 years later, you’re either where you want to be – spot on target – or somewhere else,” Dr. Reynolds said. She added, “Also, if you don’t make a choice, life will make it for you. There are times when the choices life makes for us turns us upside down. Sometimes you get really lucky though.”
She further encouraged the students to make use of higher education, whether it is in Guyana or abroad. She also encouraged them to make use of the resources available to them.
“The pitch here today is that…you take a little time out to learn about a diverse array of careers. You ask other people who know about them and make the right choices,” Dr. Reynolds advised.
Yesterday’s observance was well attended by more than two dozen primary and secondary schools across Guyana. This year, about 20 local businesses and organisations took part in the Open Day, including the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Banks DIH.
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