Born April 28, 1930, Stephanie Helena Correia was the third of nine children born to Umbelina and Stephen Campbell. According to her daughter Anna Correia, in a 2018 lecture at the Moray House Trust (MHT), Stephanie Correia often accompanied her father and learned “how to whistle, about the plants and trees in the forest, and to fish” from him.
According to Petamber Persaud in “Remembering Stephanie Correia (1930-2000)”, Stephanie was 14 when she became a pupil teacher at Martindale R C Primary School. In a telephone conversation, Anna recalled that her mom reported paddling two miles each way, to and from school daily. When Stephanie’s family migrated to Georgetown in 1950, she attended Teacher’s Training College where she came under the influence of E R Burrowes. Anna recalled in her MHT presentation that Burrowes saw her mom’s abilities in drawing and painting, encouraged her to do more, and said to her “No sewing and craft for you.”