Technology Student Receives Chancellor’s Award

Nov 16, 2017 News

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… Aarif Baksh tells of his journey

From Albion hails a young and successful individual who was a high achiever from childhood days. He was a young student at Cropper Primary School, who wrote the National Grade Six Assessment and achieved a spot at the New Amsterdam Multilateral School.
He was the hard working teenager who challenged the Caribbean Secondary School Examination Council’s examination (CSEC) and gained 10 subjects (9 ones, 1 two). He didn’t stop there; he conquered the CAPE examinations at President’s College to become the second best graduating student.
He was later, Best Student for the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Statistics and the Best Student for the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Guyana.
Not only is he an inspiration to those known to him, he is also proof that a person with nothing can one day be on top.
He is the eldest of three, born to parents Ameer Baksh, a mechanic, and Devi Baksh, a housewife.
Aarif Baksh, this year’s salutatorian at the University of Guyana recalled his journey from his years as a young man until he got to where he is today.
“Growing up, as in the case of most traditional Guyanese households, my family’s dream was for me to be a medical doctor and it was a dream that I held onto for the most part of my life. Of course I had known deep down that I cringe at the sight of blood and the likes.
“At the beginning of my second year at CAPE, I finally mustered the courage to tell my parents that medicine was not my passion. In my mind, the next best thing was a degree in Biology which I also intend to further to the Ph.D. level.
However, this decision to study Biology was based solely on the fact that “it was something I was good at and it was easy for me”. But this was only just another dream.”

His life then took a turn from this point onwards
“One day while I was going through some CAPE papers, I found in the midst, a CAPE Statistical Analysis past paper which reminded me of an event that occurred a few years back. There were the words of Mr. Shafeek Ghanie from my former Secondary School.
“In secondary school, I was really terrible at Maths so during one of the classes I asked, ‘So what could someone possibly do with a degree in Mathematics?’ and he said. ‘Well, in this country there isn’t much you can do with a degree in Mathematics, but with a degree in Statistics…’”
Aarif recalled that the teacher went on and on about the different areas of work that he would be able to explore with a degree in Statistics.
“I no longer wanted to study something just because I was good at it or because it was easy for me so I took some time, did some research and decided that Statistics was what I wanted to study.”
Mr. Baskh spoke about his journey at the University and what helped him get through. He stated that during his four years at university, he worked part time (four years as a teacher and six months as a Statistical Analyst at GTT). Apart from studying Statistics, he also completed all the required courses for a Mathematics Degree, as well as several additional courses in other areas such as Economics and Computer Science.
Recently, he graduated with a 3.9 GPA (39 A’s & 1 B) receiving the Chancellors’ Award for being the second best graduating student. He expressed how much of a major accomplishment it was and that the satisfaction he got the most, was being able to make his parents proud.
He added that his motivation to do well was due to his attitude towards learning and his love for teaching others.
Aarif said that he’s very excited when he learns something which appears seemingly difficult, and he is able to explain to his colleagues in a way that they are able to understand it as well. He noted that is very important to him.
He added that he is currently seeking a scholarship to pursue his Master’s Degree in Modelling and Mathematics Research, Statistics and Computation. He said that his goal is also to achieve a PhD in Actuarial Science. He also noted that he declined a few job offers because he had made the decision to serve his country by teaching Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics at President’s College.
“That school has always been my home away from home.”
He wishes to show students that any subject can be easy and fun once they have a strong foundation. He hopes to motivate his students to pursue careers in these areas so that they can contribute meaningfully to the development of Guyana.
He dreams of teaching his students that, apart from being a medical doctor, lawyer or engineer, there are other areas of studies that are equally respected.
There is significant emphasis being placed on Mathematics at the CSEC level in terms of job requirements and entrance qualifications for several tertiary institutions, yet you hear that “a degree in mathematics has no place in Guyana.”
He share’s the belief that this notion needs to be corrected. The Mathematics, Statistics and Physics Department has a great programme and he encourages people to explore this area of study and in that way they can transform the landscape of Guyana’s job opportunities.
According to Mr. Baksh, “I learnt history, data structures, graphics design, managerial economics, management and many other non-mathematics courses. So I believe that mathematics majors are competent to function in my other sectors other than teaching. We belong in the co-operate world too.”
He wishes that persons hearing his story can follow in his footsteps and made the following statement when asked what advice he had to give to persons with dreams as big as his.
My advice to people is a rather simple one “Inspire and Help others.” You will be surprised to know how a few encouraging words can make a difference in the life of someone, how it can ignite a spark in someone’s mind and how it can bring comfort to someone when they are discouraged.
I endorsed and live by the words of Ralph Waldo Emmerson, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honourable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

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