Sacrifice and perseverance pay off for new Attorney-at Law Keoma Griffith

Nov 07, 2016 News

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By Isanella Patoir

Success is no accident; it is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all love of what you are doing or learning to do.
That sums up 23-year-old Keoma Griffith, who recently achieved his boyhood dream of becoming an attorney-at-law.
Griffith was born in Georgetown on April 6th, 1993 to Mr. Compton Griffith and Ms. Aretha Sealey.
His early education began at the St. Agnes Primary School where he sat the Schools’ Secondary Entrance Examination in 2005.     He was then awarded a place at the Central High School.  It was evident that Griffith would be successful in the future as he served as Head Prefect and as an active student ambassador. It was at this institution that his interest in law began. At the Caribbean Secondary Examination Council Examination (CSEC) in 2010, he obtained four grade ones and six grade twos and has since left his legacy of respect and diligence of which he is often reminded by his proud teachers.
In the same year that he wrote CSEC, he began his studies at the University of Guyana (UG), Turkeyen Campus, where he completed a year of Sociology before transitioning to the Law Department to read for his Legum-Baccalaureus (Bachelor of Laws) where he finished with a Credit in 2014. Griffith said that his best years will be remembered at UG, because learning institutes should also be there “for you to meet new people and make lifelong friends.”
In this same year, he was offered a place at the Hugh Wooding Law School, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago along with his batch of top 25 Guyanese students.
At Law School, Griffith was elected as both First Year Representative (2014-2015) and Second Year Representative (2015-2016) of the Student Representative Council.

Griffith also served on the HWLS Joint Consultative Committee. While serving on the Student Representative Council, Griffith also coordinated the HWLS 2015 Christmas Charity Outreach, 2016 HWLS Sports and the 2015 welcome cocktail reception for new students. He was also recognized as an outstanding master of ceremony for each of these events.
For him, the most difficult part of Law School was moving away from home and getting used to the food. He “ate bread with almost everything”, but after a year he would have adjusted and made lots of friends from other Caribbean islands.
And he constantly had to deal with the fear of withdrawing from Law School as he said, “A lot of times I paid school fees late.” His strong faith in Christ and the support of his family helped him to surmount these challenges, and also learn from them.
“If you’ve come out of a trial and you haven’t learnt anything, I really feel you have missed an opportunity to help somebody in life”.
Griffith has always been an active volunteer, and has given voluntary service to a number of youth-related Non-Governmental Organizations. These include the National Youth Parliament Executive Committee where he last served as House Clerk and planning executive, Blue CAPS and the Come Alive Network Inc. where he presently serves as bonding meeting coordinator for over 50 other youth volunteers. Through the Come Alive Network Inc. Griffith was appointed as a coordinator for the 2016 Just Youth It Conference to celebrate International Youth Day. Over 300 youths attended, and listened to influential speakers such as First Lady Sandra Granger and Madam Justice Roxane George.
Griffith displays a strong faith in Christ and fellowships at the Ruimveldt Life Improvement Centre (RLIC) Assembly of God Church, where he is a musician and also ministers with the Dunamis Gospel Band. While at church Griffith has served as Leader of the Music Department, a position which he willingly vacated before leaving for law school in 2014, and the RLIC Youth Fire Ministry, where he served as a youth executive from the age of 17 to 21. In his free time, he enjoys practice with his band members, socializing with friends and motivating other young people to set and achieve goals.
He was accepted to the local bar as an Attorney-at-Law on October 10th, 2016, by Justice Sandra Kurtzious. Family members and friends were present.
A part of his acceptance speech included, “Today is a great day. It will forever be a testimony of faith in God and perseverance. I have been raised in a community which some have categorized as one which is underserved. Standing here today therefore means that it does not matter where you come from, ambition is priceless and the sky is the limit. As I embark on the beginning of what I hope will be a fruitful legal career, I vow to uphold the ethical standards and traditions which have been established long before me and to give of my best always”.
Griffith extends his heartfelt appreciation to all those persons who assisted and believed in him to get him to where he is today. His parents, siblings, his Aunt Debbie, his Pastor and members of his church, teachers and lecturers to name a few.
His dream would be to help people, “it might not happen immediately, but I hope to someday influence someone out there”, he said.

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