By:Curtis Morton
The way I see it, some persons are just gifted. As I stood in an interview with teen age genius Rol’J Williams, earlier this week, I could not help but to be amazed at a few things:
For one, his ‘humility’. The guy is not ‘boasting’ or ‘showoff’ , which is really good for his future development.
For two, when I was expecting him to say that he spend so many excessive hours ‘beating the books,’ the young man said on the contrary, that he loves to sleep. ‘Sometimes I sleep for 15 hours in one day,’ he said.
Well I newa!
For three, he has an astounding memory. When I asked him to list the 17 subjects that he had passed with 17 grade ones at CXC, I really expected him to call a few and then say something like, ‘I can’t recall the others.’
To my amazement, his response was something like this: ‘Let me give you them in alphabetical order: Biology…………”
Without apparently missing a heartbeat, he rattled off the 17 subjects.
Truly amazing also, is his admission that he studies more when he is ‘on the go.
When he is on a bus with his ear phones plugged in, you cannot assume that he is listening to music, as he could well be listening to his own voice, repeating some French vocabulary, for all you care!
When I pursued my Diploma in Public Health in St. Lucia, many moons ago, I discovered another rare talent on that course.
The late Carlylse Hobson was also an amazing Academic. He just gave the impression that he did not care much about anything and when some of us stayed up late to burn the proverbial mid night oil, he went to bed. However, the confusing thing about it is, that most times when the results came back, he aced the exams and got more than most of us, who had stayed up until late into the night!
So maybe God built the brains in some people a little differently from the rest of us. Their brains have to be wired differently.
However, we all have talents and gifts and as Rol’J hinted in the interview, ‘you may not do well academically but whatever you are good at, set goals and make every effort to achieve those goals and never give up.’
I certainly want to wish the young budding Neurosurgeon all the best, as his starts with a two stint at the Nevis Sixth form College and then moves on from there.
May he continue on such a positive path and may he continue to be a mentor and source of inspiration to other youngsters within our island community.
May our other youths find their niche and pursue positive goals and stay away from deviant, anti-social behaviour and may our country be the full beneficiary of such positive ambitions.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?