16 Vincentians awarded scholarships to study in Taiwan

Many of this year’s recipients of full scholarships from the Republic of China (Taiwan) are excited not only to pursue their chosen career path, but to learn about a new culture.

Sixteen Vincentians have been awarded scholarships to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at universities in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
The scholarship recipients were presented with certificates on Tuesday at a Reception held at the Prime Minister’s residence, for Dr Tsai Ing-wen, the president of the Republic of China (Taiwan).

Shortly before presenting some of the recipients with their certificates, President Tsai said her country was “honoured to help create brighter futures for young Vincentians”.

Awardees also had the opportunity to meet with President Tsai during a luncheon on Tuesday held at Grenadines House.

“I’m pretty excited about it. I am grateful for the opportunity of getting to go overseas to pursue my masters in a completely different culture so I’m excited about the experience that is ahead and everything else that would be incorporated into the studying, social life and everything,” Cerelia Aberdeen, one of the scholarship recipients told SEARCHLIGHT.

Aberdeen, who is a fourth and fifth form chemistry teacher at the Girls’ High School, will pursue a Masters degree in Material Science and Engineering.

And she believes that pursuing a degree in a foreign country often helps to teach people about themselves.

“We learn a lot about being independent so it’s something that I would suggest persons do. It’s about getting to know yourself, getting to know your experiences that can be applied to your country and most of all it’s a growth period that allows you to grow in several areas…” she said.

The teacher, whose parents are both deceased, said she is thankful to God and extremely grateful for the opportunity.

Another scholarship recipient, Rondine Brown plans to pursue her first degree in Animation.

The 19-year-old said she is overwhelmed and excited to be going to a different environment where she will have the opportunity to experience a new culture and language.

Brown, a recent graduate of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, said she has already been exposed to learning the language and is excited to spend her first year continuing that learning.

“My passion is art in general but I want to go specifically in animation. My dream is to create an identity out there for St Vincent and also with animation, it involves character building and building story lines as well so what I like to do, I like to incorporate something of our heritage, our culture that would be extremely educational because in today’s world, the youths are gravitating towards technological advancement and animation is a part of it,” she said.

Like Brown, Jamar Goodluck has also been exposed to learning Mandarin.

Goodluck, another of this year’s recipients told SEARCHLIGHT that he, along with several other persons employed with the government travelled to Taiwan earlier this year for three months to learn the language.

He said that it was this experience that caused him to fall in love with Taiwan and its rich culture.

Goodluck added that was elated to have been chosen to receive the scholarship. He will pursue a Masters of Business degree in Administration and Technology Management at the National Tsing Hua University.

Other scholarship recipients are Alinford Samuel, Antonette Commissiong, Joy Stowe, Zenroy Chance, Rachel McDowall, Vaughn Peters, Olijah Parris, Sean Roache, Afesha Simmons, Zonel Seymour, D’vante Neverson, Mia Arusha Miller and Philicia Ronelle Charles.

Vincentians have been receiving full scholarships to pursue tertiary education in Taiwan since 2004. There are presently approximately 100 Vincentian students pursuing university level education in Taiwan.