UWI St Augustine sport faculty has historic first cohort

For the first time ever, students graduated with degrees from the Faculty of Sport at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine (UWI STA). Six of the ten graduates crossed the stage during the graduation ceremony at the UWI’s Sport and Physical Education on Saturday.

Five students received a Bachelor of Science in Sport Kinetics – Kirsten St Omer (with first class honours), Vinaya Boodram, Clayton Knott, Britanny Mahabir, and Nand Sookhan.

Also, Giovanni Ashby-Williams, Seth Baldeo, Sydney Lezama, Tevan Mc Lean, and Abbie Singh received a Certificate in the Art and Science of Coaching

Knott said it felt monumental to be in the first cohort in that faculty at UWI STA.

“To be the first to come through in St Augustine, with the four other classmates I have, it’s an experience I would wish for anybody. It was a bit challenging to start the degree, with covid19 and the blended learning, but making friends along the way and you get that group you could work with and who pushes you to continue and do your best is all you can really ask for. Being involved in sport, playing rugby is something I always wanted to do, focus on a degree in sport, give my life on sport, because I find sport gave me a lot. I would recommend for anyone to do this degree because it’s a plant where you could grow many branches and do different things with. “

Knott said he wanted to pursue a career in physical therapy, athletic therapy, or become a physical education teacher.

Mahabir said she had been playing sports all of her life, including taekwando and football, which inspired her to join the sport faculty.

“I did a Bachelor in Sport Kinetics because I want to further my career in physical therapy. As for my experience at UWI, online learning was a challenge, and I never saw my classmates in person until my last year at UWI. It was a really a great experience to do all the practicals in SPEC with my classmates. We would have definitely created bonds, as it was about 14 of us, and it ended up five graduating. All in all, it was a great fantastic journey and I’m glad to have gone through it with these people.”

Mahabir said her next step will be to apply to physical therapy school, having finished her clinical hours, and go to the US to study and start her doctorate.