BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – CHLOE Doras, 16, of the Verchilds High School has demonstrated that hard work brings rewards, as she was announced winner of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organization (CANTO) regional essay competition.
The competition was launched in mid-May of this year to commemorate World Telecommunications and Information Society Day. Students from across the region between the ages of 14 and 18 submitted 600 word essays describing the contributions of ICT to their respective countries and to the world in general.
Doras’ piece, written under the theme ‘Better city, Better life with ICTs’, impressed the panel of regional telecommunications experts and her creativity, organization and unique writing style helped her climb above her Trinidadian, Barbadian and Guyanese counterparts.
The ambitious fifth-former was not only able to make her family, friends and school proud, but she also walked away with a number of impressive prizes including a notebook computer and a US $1000. Doras also claimed the coveted all-inclusive trip for two to CANTO’s 26th Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition in Curacao from July 11-14.
This, Doras said, is proof that hard work pays dividends.
“I am very excited! The cash prize and trip to Curacao are very amazing and Curacao is very beautiful so I am very glad to be going there.
“Just like any subject, and even any other aspect of life, it is important for you to get your information so you to know what you are doing.... Sometimes you may not be optimistic about these Caribbean competitions, but you never know what can happen,” Doras told SKNVibes following a handing-over ceremony on Monday (June 21).
Doras, who has her eyes set on practising Law or Veterinary Medicine, said students should not be discouraged from entering such competitions, but should take them as opportunities to do research and apply themselves to do well. She added that there is much satisfaction in making an effort, even if one does not place.
Top officials from LIME, a local CANTO member, congratulated Doras and encouraged other students to recognize the benefits of such opportunities. LIME General Manager David Lake and Corporate Communications Manager Laverne Caines handed over the prizes to Doras and her mother during a general assembly held at the school.
Verchilds principal Addison Warner said Doras’ recent success is one for the school to celebrate, as it symbolizes that even a small school can achieve great things.
“It is wonderful because we are small—a small island, a small school—and to see that we could do it means that we have the talent and that the talent is being put to work. I am very proud of her.
“I hope that from today students will be inspired by what has taken place and see that they are no worse off than anybody in the Caribbean or in the world, and every time there is an opportunity, they should try,” Warner said.
A notebook computer and a Smartphone, along with a US$ 500 cash prize went to the second place winner from St. Michael School in Bardados, Firhanna Bulbulia. Crystal Simon of Queen’s College Guyana and Jasabi Rawlins of Naparima Girls High School in Trinindad placed third and fourth respectively, claiming a Smartphone and a small cash prize.
