Naps old boy takes Rhodes scholarship

Naparima Boys’ College alumnus Mandela Patrick is the 2018 Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholarship winner.

The 22-year-old emerged the winner out of nine candidates who applied for the scholarship to study at Oxford University in the United Kingdom. Trinidadian Kirin Rambaran was also shortlisted.

Acting governor general of Barbados Sir Philip Greaves made the announcement on Monday.

Patrick will spend two years completing a masters in computer science and a masters in statistics, starting in October 2018.

At 19, Patrick topped the Caribbean in mathematics and information and communications technology (ICT).

He is now an ICT student at Harvard University.

When contacted in Barbados yesterday, Patrick, from Palmiste, San Fernando, attributed his success to hard work, time management and commitment, and his parents Raymond and Hyacinth’s absolute support and love.

“This is an absolute dream come true, because the Rhodes Scholarship is considered the most prestigious scholarship in the world.

This is an overall life journey where one must have excellent academic achievement, and I was the top student from Form One to Six,” he said.

Patrick is also an avid athlete and had represented TT in squash and continued at the university level at Harvard. “I was able to balance my academics with the highly hectic schedule of squash. My brother Nku also plays squash at Trinity College in Connecticut,” he noted with pride.

Patrick said the main focus of his studies was machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Patrick may have left his alma mater three years ago, but he has certainly not been forgotten.

His former vice principal at Naparima, Dev Gosine, said Patrick was an outstanding student when he taught him in Form Six.

“We were very close and he was very committed to his studies. When he won an open scholarship in 2014, he had been admitted to university before he wrote CAPE (Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination). His very first job was with Facebook,” he said.

Gosine said he was proud that one of their own had made his school and his country proud.