The late Rueben and Patricia Adrian of Phasanali, Santa Rosa, Moruca could not afford to give their children secondary or tertiary education but four of their grandchildren are among the latest University of Guyana (UG) graduates.
Only one of the Adrian’s ten children, Zita Adrian-Ameerally, through “sheer determination,” attained a Bachelor’s Degree and two of her three children have already obtained tertiary level education at UG.
In the words of grandchild Krystal Pereira, who attained a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems and graduated with distinction in the 2021 batch, “It is meaningful because our parents did not have the same opportunities like us but they always believed in the value of a sound education. Our grandparents would always tell my mom, aunts and uncles about the value of education and were they alive today, they would be so proud.”
Also graduating in the 2021 batch were Alexandra Adrian, who obtained a Bachelor’s Degree with distinction in Biology; Sheres Thomas, who graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations (IR) and Zwena Ameerally, who graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Biology.
They joined their cousins, Roxanne Adrian, who graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor’s Degree in IR in 2009 from UG and subsequently a Master’s Degree in IR from The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine Campus; Micaela Adrian, who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education (English) in 2019, and Aungelle Henry, who earned a Diploma in Communications, in 2020, and Sarah and Nicholas Adrian, who have also obtained diplomas, all from UG.
Krystal Pereira
Telling her story, Pereira, daughter of Vanita Adrian, said her mother, who was living in Georgetown at the time, made a huge sacrifice to send her to Marian Academy to ensure she received a good education. “I am grateful. At the time I didn’t appreciate what she was doing. Now that I am older and wiser I think it is the best gift she gave me.”
Pereira’s home in Werk-en-Rust was razed by fire in December 2019 in her third year when she was about to start writing exams. “We lost everything. The faculty head of the Computer Science Department gave me some time off in December to recover and I wrote my exams in January. After that I just pushed through to get things done. My family, including Auntie Zita, Auntie Cheryl, my cousin Roxanne, my mom, who now lives in Santa Rosa, close friends, all came together to help us get back on our feet. It is really tough starting over from scratch. Luckily for me, I had a support system. Emotionally for me it was really tough. I had to tell myself that I need to complete my courses and I can’t let this bring me down. I lost my laptop in the fire and a goodly donor gave me another. I got the books back myself.”
Pereira is employed with the Guyana Securities Council.
Alexandra Adrian
Apart from being an Adrian, Alexandra is part of the Savory family, of Santa Rosa, who are well-known as educators. Her grandmother, Bridget Daniels, was headmistress of Santa Rosa Primary for many years. Her mother, Marie, and father, Vernal Adrian, were born and raised in Moruca.
Aexandra was overjoyed on completion of her bachelor’s degree programme and achieving a distinction. The recipient of a Guyana Government scholarship, she is grateful for the support of everyone who helped her through. As someone who is introverted and who struggles with anxiety, she had to face those challenges through public speaking during class presentations and group interactions. Commuting between her home on the East Bank Demerara and the Turkeyen campus was another daily challenge as she frequently used public transportation. “I couldn’t manage a job and be a full time student and so I often depended on my parents for the necessities that my scholarship did not always cover.”
At present she is employed as a part time lab demonstrator at UG. “When I have the means to study again, I hope to enter into a veterinary programme to begin my veterinary science journey,” she said.
Sheres Thomas
A former student of St Rose’s High, Thomas credits her mother, Cheryl Adrian, her father, Nigel Thomas, and siblings for her success. “Mom and dad are my only support system. I have a younger sister and a little brother and we try to support each other because they are all we have.”
She describes herself as a self-starter artist who does poetry and drawings.
Obtaining her bachelor’s degree made her feel “very accomplished,” she said. She now wants to pursue a Master’s Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management. “I would like to qualify myself to go into the oil and gas industry.”
Transitioning from face-to-face to online classes with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, she said, was easy to cope with. Thomas is a supervisor at the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company.
Zwena Ameerally
Ameerally is the second daughter of Zita Adrian-Ameerally, and Zita’s second child to pursue a tertiary education at UG. She attended JC Chandisingh Secondary School before enrolling at UG Berbice Campus to pursue the Associate of Science Degree in Biology.
She was in the second semester when the Covid-19 pandemic changed her academic life from face-to-face to online learning. During that time her computer started to malfunction.
“After desperately searching for a computer in Berbice and finding none, my mother and brother ventured to Georgetown and still couldn’t get one since computers were in high demand during that time.” This happened towards the end of the semester when final exams were about to start. Many times, she said, her computer shut down on her during exams, resulting in bad scores on some of her courses.
Despite the challenges, Ameerally said, she is proud of her achievement and is continuing to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Faculty of Health Sciences.
She thanked Almighty Allah, and many others including her batch mates who had an impact on her academic life.
Micaela Adrian
The first daughter of Zita Adrian-Ameerally, Micaela grew up with her grandparents in Moruca, mainly because her mother was away working and studying from Santa Rosa. She recalled at Phasanali, studying late by flambeau and sleeping away and her grandfather keeping an eye out for her. “You studying or you sleeping?” he would ask.
She attended Santa Rosa Secondary and North Georgetown Secondary schools. After leaving school she worked at NCN in the marketing department. She started UG in 2005 but dropped out due to financial difficulties. “I left UG and went to work at GECOM. Career-wise I didn’t know what to do. My grandma was a teacher and I really admired what she did. I wanted to change lives like she did and so I applied to Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) in 2009 to do the secondary programme. I graduated from CPCE in 2012 and now teach at East Ruimveldt Secondary. The teachers coming out from CPCE were young and heading straight to UG. I told myself that I was not old and I needed to get myself qualified. So I pursued the Bachelor’s Degree in Education, majoring in English. It was a bit challenging because at this time I was a mother, a wife, a teacher and a student. I graduated from UG in 2019.”
The mother of two children, ages 13 and nine, Micaela is now set on doing a Master’s Degree in Education.
Roxanne Adrian
Roxanne was also raised by her grandparents at Phasanali as her father, Eric Adrian had moved to England and her mother was working in Georgetown before moving to Trinidad and Tobago (TT). After writing common entrance, she attended North Georgetown Secondary on a hinterland scholarship.
She first worked as a teacher assistant at East Ruimveldt Secondary for two years then gained entry at 19 years to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in IR at UG on a student loan. “My grandparents encouraged me to pursue higher education but they couldn’t afford to send me to university. I hadn’t role models in my immediate family. Career-wise I didn’t know what I wanted to do. In the first year my dad helped me and then he lost his job during the global recession. There was rent to pay, food, transportation and other necessities. I started working with Demerara Mutual in 2007 to put myself through school. Dropping out was not an option. Working and studying was stressful. Sometimes I couldn’t get to classes because of work and this caused me to fail a few courses which I had to redo. I graduated in 2009. It was one of my best moments.”
In 2008, Roxanne was promoted to a management trainee. Even though she was not doing business at UG, she recalled her manager telling her, “Your IR degree will help you through life in business to understand people, to understand the environment and how government’s policies affect the economy.”
She was a member of the management team at Demerara Mutual at 22 years. “I was the youngest management trainee.”
After graduation in 2009 she was part of a Master’s Degree pilot project at UWI that involved IR students from UG. The cost was G$3 million. “I hadn’t G$3 million but I signed up for it. I went to the bank for a loan but my request was rejected. Eventually my dad, mom, uncles and my ex-fiance came together to help finance my studies. I will forever be grateful to them. I struggled to do the thesis because I was still working full time and the Master’s Degree programme was full time. I took two weeks off the job to finish the thesis. When I got that email from UWI that said I had passed the course, it was one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had. I had never thought of doing a Master’s Degree when I started UG.”
Still working in business in TT where she now lives, Roxanne said because of her management training in Guyana, she has been able to hold jobs in management positions including in an NGO as a programme coordinator.
“I work in the Unicomer Regional Office doing e-commerce in a team of eight. I get to help a lot of people and I get to learn a different side of business by selling things online. It is a modern way of living and shopping that is evolving in the Caribbean and I have the opportunity to be part of it.”
She joined the Unicomer Group in 2020 after working with Sports and Games Ltd that has a smaller website from which she learned the basics of e-commerce. “We saw the benefits of ecommerce when it became essential during the pandemic. I am so grateful, if not, I would have been out of a job. Right now I work for the Guyana market from my home in Trinidad. All the products you see on offer online for Courts in the Guyana market is basically my work.”
Roxanne now has her eyes set on a Master’s Degree in business administration from the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business. “I now have to figure out how to pay for that.”
Zita Adrian-Ameerally
The fourth of ten siblings, Adrian-Ameerally is the only one to obtain a bachelor’s degree. After writing common entrance at Santa Rosa Primary she went to the then Port Kaituma Community High School where she was among the first batch of students to attend the school. “We lived in the dorms. It was difficult and I had to adjust. Somewhere in Third Form, the Guyana National Service (GNS) took over the school and we had to return home.”
She finished schooling at Santa Rosa Primary secondary department after which she joined the GNS. “I was in the GNS for two years, between Arakaka and Papaya, where I studied agricultural science.”
She left the GNS at 19 years and returned to Moruca where she taught at Santa Rosa Primary for four years. Not satisfied with teaching, she left and worked with the Ministry of Works in Georgetown as a typist clerk, then with Stabroek News for a few months as a proofreader where she saw an advertisement for eligible students to apply for entry to the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA). From 1993 she spent two years at GSA and then went on to CPCE to specialise Agricultural Science, Secondary.
After graduation she taught at Santa Rosa Secondary School. After marrying in 2004 she was transferred to JC Chandisingh Secondary as the acting head of department (HOD) for the Agricultural Science Department.
In 2011, she completed the certificate in education administration at UG Berbice Campus and the bachelor’s degree in education administration in 2016. She retired as graduate HOD, an achievement she, as a child from Phananali, never thought possible.
“I feel blessed I was able to do it through sheer determination and pleased I have imparted knowledge in children,” Adrian-Ameerally said.
