Wulstan Alfred exclaimed. “The salt . . . I don’t think we should use ‘the salt’. “How about the essence?” I responded. The two of us were trying to come up with a word to describe one of his students.
Have you ever met someone who happens to cheer you up with just their appearance? They seem to have that warm smile, and a personality that just seems to brighten your day. A person who is simple yet extraordinary. I come across some people like that, but I’ve recently met an individual and every time we cross paths I seem to be cheered up by her. Dear readers, I hereby introduce you to Ashley Jules.
Ashley is a 12 year old who hails from the community of Ravine Poisson in Bexon. She is a Form One student of the George Charles Secondary School. Adding to her tremendous personality is her willingness to partake in anything that her small frame does not hinder her from performing adequately.
“I am a very confident person and I think my personality helps. I like to sing, I love to write poems and making people feel happy. I’m small but I’ve got it all. When I say “all” I mean, I’ve got the personality, the attitude, the voice, the smile and I have everything that you can think of to make you smile” Ashley explained.
Ashley says that her warm personality has lead her to love her school, teachers and fellow students, even if George Charles wasn’t her preferred institution.
“I love my school. Upon receiving my Common Entrance results my mom told me that I was assigned to the Marigot Secondary and I wasn’t happy. I wanted to attend the Leon Hess and I know I did well enough to be assigned to that school. I honestly think that they used the zoning method to assign me to a school because I am from Ravine Poisson. I did not want to attend Marigot so I got transferred to George Charles.”
And she doesn’t just talk the talk, she is always willing to make things happen, volunteering her time and best efforts to partaking in as many school activities as possible.
“I am the Public Relations Officer for my school’s council and I am very thankful for that because I get to interact with everybody and I am the voice of the students. I am a member of the Junior Achievers and the First Prefect for my class (there are two of us). I sing during school events like Valentine’s and Independence and I’m a member of the Theatre Arts Club. I represented my school during the National Student’s Council General Meeting and was in the running for the post of Public Relations Officer for the Council but was not elected. I also wanted to play basketball but I’m too short (chuckles).”
“When people see me, especially when I have my uniform on, I can always hear them say “that girl really small ee,” but I’m used to that and it doesn’t bother me. Everybody has their own way and maybe small is for me and I love it,” she professed proudly.
Ashley explained that there are times when she does feel overwhelmed by all the activities but she has her methods of overcoming them.
“At times I do feel the pressure through partaking in so many activities. When I feel overwhelmed in school I just go to my desk and rest my head. At home I do meditation with my uncle.”
Ashley is also an academically inclined student, as she placed second overall in her class during end of first term exams with an over 80% average. Her favourite subjects are Math, English A, Arts, Music and Food and Nutrition.
Vice Principal Fiona Mendes had very good things to say about her bright student.
“Ashley is very versatile. The good thing about her is that she is a very positive child, she has talent and she’s also got a personality to go with it. She takes part in events like YouthFest, drama; the creative arts are her strength but she’s also very strong academically, so that’s a really good balance that we embrace at the school and we support her,” she said.
Like her Vice Principal mentioned, Ashley engaged in YouthFest 2013 and has also taken part in the Junior Carnival Princess Pagaent. Like the elder folk would say, she is truly ana-fè.
“If I could use one word to describe myself it would be talented. I am involved in all of these different things because I don’t want to only sing but I want to learn to do many things and that will help me be an all-round person”.
