Office of the Campus Registrar, Jamaica. Monday, October 7, 2019 – The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, is pleased to announce the Valedictorian for its 2019 Presentation of Graduates Ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, October 12, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the St John’s Pentecostal Ministries Church in Antigua and Barbuda.

The Valedictorian is Ms Novenia Norisia Isaac, a secretary at the Portsmouth Secondary School. Novenia completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Social Work with First Class Honours.

Novenia, from the northern community of Thibaud is a mother of one and also a mentor to many students at the Portsmouth Secondary School.

Novenia places high importance on being a positive role model to young people and encourages them to follow their dreams no matter how off the path they may appear. “The most important lesson I learned while pursuing my degree is that in order to succeed you must never forget what it is that you are trying to achieve and in doing so, work fervently to achieve that goal,” she explained when asked about the lessons learned over the four years of her studies.

She is driven by the values of honesty, hard work and dedication and applies these values to everything she undertakes academically, professionally and personally. Novenia credits her drive to succeed to the unconditional support she received from her network of family and friends and her ever-growing faith in God.

“My best advice for single parents is to ensure that your support network is solid,” she stated when asked to offer advice to other single parents who wish to study. “Ensure that there are persons who will be there to advise and help you during the hard parenting times and to help you with the child/children when assignments are due and time is pressing.”

Chosen by Social Work

“I like to say that I did not choose Social Work, Social Work chose me,” Novenia quipped when asked about her choice of degree. “I knew I wanted to complete my studies in a field that allowed me to give back to people, to help out those who are oppressed, but I did not know exactly where I would land in that spectrum. It was only after I attended an information session with the Open Campus and the speaker highlighted the Social Work programme that I knew that this was what I needed to do.”

 As is customary, Novenia will deliver the Valedictory Speech on behalf of her fellow graduates from across the region at Saturday’s graduation ceremony.

About The UWI

For the past 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda, and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Asia, and Africa such as the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development, the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport. 

As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. Times Higher Education (THE) has ranked The UWI among the top 1,258 universities in world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in its Latin America Rankings for 2018. It was the only Caribbean-based University to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.

(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)