David Forbes

David Forbes, 18, is an exemplary student who already has a string of major awards and personal achievements under his belt.

His record of academic success began early in life, when he was named the Head Boy at Savannah Primary School. During his time at Savannah Primary he was awarded the Joanna Clarke Award – which celebrates excellence in education.

David maintained his standard of excellence when he moved to secondary school. He was the Top Student in Years six, seven and eight. He was also a Prefect and Head Boy at Clifton Hunter High School.

For three consecutive years, he was a member of Clifton Hunter’s team for the KPMG Brain Bowl, a competition which tests students’ general knowledge.

He graduated with high honours and attained several awards including Student of the Year, Christian Character Award and Top 10 Highest Averages in external exams. Following high school, he went on to obtain an Associate’s degree in Mathematics from the University College of the Cayman Islands.

School wasn’t the only place where David was recognised.

In 2010, he was named the co-champion of the National Spelling Bee. He has been a Minds Inspired scholarship recipient since 2012, which has allowed him to visit the Dart Neuroscience research lab in San Diego as well as CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, in Geneva, Switzerland.

In 2013, he represented the Cayman Islands at the Optimist Club’s Oratorical District competition in Kingston, Jamaica…and won the event.

David’s gifts extend to music. He has won several National Children Festival of the Arts Gold and Silver Awards in trumpet, piano, band and vocal categories.

He passed with merit the Trinity College, London Grade 6 trumpet exam, and was a finalist in the 2013 Young Musician of the Year competition. He has also shared his musical talents by playing the trumpet in the Police Band and as accompanist for the Cayman Youth Choir.

A devout Christian, David wants to use his God-given talents as a music ministry and is currently the accompanist musician for his church.

This Fall David will move to Ohio to pursue a degree in actuarial science at Ohio State University.

Kasinda McField

As a child, she was discouragingly named by her neighborhood as the ‘least likely to go to university’. Despite this, 24-year-old Kasinda McField’s determination to succeed has propelled her toward achieving her personal aspirations. As such, she is a true inspiration to her community, and to others across various age groups.

As a child, she was discouragingly named by her neighborhood as the ‘least likely to go to university’. Despite this, 24-year-old Kasinda McField’s determination to succeed has propelled her toward achieving her personal aspirations. As such, she is a true inspiration to her community, and to others across various age groups.

Born with a disability that hindered her growth and physical abilities, she suffered through many surgeries, and refused to give up on her dreams. Her condition, Kneist Dysplasia, is a bone growth disorder characterized by short stature – she stands at 4’1”. As well as this, she has vision and hearing impairments; but, again, she has not allowed them to dampen her efforts to reach her goals.

Doctors didn’t expect her to walk, and opined that if she went to school, it would be confined to her wheelchair. Kasinda’s determination and will to walk inspired her doctors to re-think their position on her condition and fit her with metal braces and special shoes that would aid her in learning how to walk. Kasinda suffered but never gives up and her determination is what continues to push her forward.

Facing more challenges than people her age and older can even imagine, she was determined to become the first person in her family to graduate from university – and is well on her way to attaining this goal.

Kasinda graduated from the University College of the Cayman Islands in 2013 with an Associates Degree in Business Administration. However, her plans didn’t stop there. She then decided to pursue her dream of attending the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica and achieving a Bachelors degree in Banking and Finance.

She initiated a meeting with the UWI Recruitment Department, who were pleased to accept her and accommodate her needs as she studied there. This big step resulted in a improvements to her GPA, from a cumulative average of 2.53 during her Associate Degree studies, to 2.86 in her most recent semester at UWI.

Even returning home over summers was not an excuse for her to relax and stop pressing-on. This year, she secured 2016 summer internships with the Ministry of Finance and the Judicial Department.

(GIS) Photos captions:

Proud of Them finalists David Forbes

Proud of Them finalist Kasinda McField