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Aspiring lawyer receives Eric Williams CAPE prize for History
It was Thomas Alva Edison, one of the most prolific inventors in history, who coined the phrase “there is no substitute for hard work.” To date, this notion has held true, reflecting that it is imperative that persons endeavour to always “put their best foot forward” in every task they are assigned.
Recipient of the Eric Williams CAPE Prize for History, Rebecca Khan
It was with this very attitude that former student of The Bishops’ High School, Rebecca Khan, has been embracing her academic journey and has reaped nothing but success over the years. Her most recent outstanding achievement was characterised by her being bestowed with the Eric Williams Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) prize for History. She is the first Guyanese to ever receive the prestigious award, allowing her to receive a laptop computer, a certificate and a book.
According to a media release, Rebecca received the honour at a simple ceremony at the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission in Kingston, Jamaica, on September 13, last.
In 2008, the Eric Williams Memorial Collection joined with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to offer an award in memory of the late Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and Historian Dr. Eric Williams. The award is for the most outstanding candidate in the Caribbean in History at the CAPE. In order to attain the award, the candidate must attain Grade Ones in CAPE History unit one and unit two.
Rebecca did just that, with distinctions in both units, and was selected for the prize after placing the highest on CXC’s ranking criteria. She had in fact placed second in Guyana at CAPE in 2010 having achieved five subjects with four distinctions and one grade two. This had seen her being awarded a trophy by the Ministry of Education at its awards ceremony that year. Rebecca also achieved grade ones in CAPE Law units one and two, and was named in the CXC and CAPE merit list for both subject areas and Caribbean Studies. She received prizes at The Bishop’s High School prize giving ceremonies in 2010 and 2011 for her performances at CAPE in History and Law. Her CAPE studies also saw her securing passes in Communication Studies and Literature.
‘It wasn’t easy’
With her mind set on pursuing a career in Law, Rebecca during an interview with this newspaper revealed that her achievements were only realised through hard work and perseverance. She recalled that she had to make many sacrifices, which at times included her giving up fun and rest to travel to the University of Guyana’s Turkeyen Campus to do some serious reading.
She credits her time indulging in lengthy periods of reading and research as the main factor which led to her doing well at History and by extension, allowing her to become the recipient of the Eric Williams prize.
“I had to do a lot of research. It was a lot of reading…and not just CXC books. The UG library has a wealth of information and it was very helpful,” she related, while intimating that her teachers, particularly Ms. Ann Thompson in History and Ms. Claire Mason in Law, were exceptional in their teaching methods, as were her other teachers.
The 20-year-old nonetheless stressed that she recognised from early on that classroom sessions were not nearly enough if she intended to be outstanding.
“I had some very good teachers. I can tell other students it is definitely not easy, but you can’t expect teachers to spoon-feed you. You certainly can’t expect them to teach you everything and dictate notes. In order to do well, you must read and read a lot. You have to be committed and decide that you want to do well but be realistic about it, since you don’t want to think you can do more than you actually can,” said an assertive Rebecca.
Although she had commenced studies at the University of the West Indies in the area of History, Rebecca has since decided that Law would be her preferred course of study. As a result, the daughter of Roseanne and Rafiq Turhan Khan is gearing to commence the Law Programme at the University of Guyana come next year.
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