Zalisia Guy: Success against many odds

A young woman committed to nurturing her community of Bethel, Zalisia Giy was on September 8, honoured with the Personal Triumph award at the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs’ National Youth Awards at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Trinidad.

In an interview with Newsday Tobago on Friday, Guy who is currently enrolled in the Faculty at Medicine at the University of the West Indies, in St Augustine, said she was happy her efforts at nurturing her community was being recognised.

“Words cannot explain how I feel,” she said of the award.

“I am happy that I am able to inspire others and extremely grateful to know that my efforts are being acknowledged.

Guy said her personal triumphs know no boundaries, as she noted “a preconceived notion for lack of success based on the community I live in, Bethel.

“Other basic things I guess include me having a single mom, getting into a car accident about a month before the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA. So, my recognition comes from my academic successes like me still finishing 7th in Tobago for SEA, my O’ Levels, my A’ Levels which allowed me to receive a scholarship,” she said.

Guy, 21, is intent on becoming a forensic pathologist.

“This choice was made firstly for a selfish reason. When I was younger, I would always hear the complaints about doctors not getting jobs upon completion of their studies and since I know that everyone tends to run from the dead, I chose to run towards it. As age brought reason and I began paying more attention to current affairs, I saw the need for Trinidad and Tobago to become developed and this field is totally lacking,” she said.

Her enthusiasm, she said, comes from the people in her life who supports her on a regular.

“My family, my friends, persons who’ve adopted me to assist in my nurturing, my teachers who have all gone the extra mile and my boyfriend who came in at a later stage of my life but has nothing but support for my goals,” she said.

In 2016, Guy was the recipient of a national scholarship in Natural Sciences following the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE). Along the way she has been an active member of clubs such as the Bethel Police Youth Club, Montgomery Moravian Church Youth group as well as the Y-AIM and Journalism Club at the Bishop’s High School. Currently, she is a member of the Rotaract Club of Mt Hope.