Lakefield used to be a single-sex school, and while women were welcomed a decade or so before I got there, the school had yet to part with its tradition of having a single Head Student, a male. I learned that I was likely to be Lakefield’ s first female Head Student, but, in a bittersweet way, it was the very same week that I won a scholarship to represent The Bahamas at the United World Colleges( UWC) in Hong Kong.
Not sure what path to explore, I sought the chaplain’ s advice. I wondered what a journey to Hong Kong would be like at the age of 16, and while UWC students are selected by their country on the basis of merit, I feared I would not stand up academically to the rigours of the International Baccalaureate. I knew I was doing well at Lakefield and felt I could make a real contribution, but also knew this was another opportunity to“ dream big” and leave my comfort zone.
Six months later, I found myself alone in a taxi on Lok Wo Sha Lane. At the UWC in Hong Kong, I was grateful that the international diversity of LCIS had prepared me to thrive in such a cosmopolitan setting. I joined the campus swim team and learned how to SCUBA dive so that I could volunteer for the World Wildlife Foundation, monitoring coral reefs on weekends. I began attempting to learn Mandarin and was navigating the city via the Mass Transit Railway with my new best friend, Juliet, who was from Sudan. I travelled extensively during breaks doing community service projects in countries such as Vietnam, Thailand, India, Nepal, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt and Japan. On graduation day, the UWC Principal presented me with a plaque for being the student who had contributed the most to campus life. I thanked him and remembered the Lakefield Chaplain’ s advice, which had been,“ Have faith that you will make a contribution wherever you go.” Thus my exploration continued.
you not only reach your full potential, but the journey is incredibly fulfilling. I went on to use their advice at LSE, growing my knowledge base and making a significant contribution to the school’ s business society.
After LSE, I continued my pattern of exploration, of leaving and beginning again. Starting as an analyst at Goldman Sachs in London, I then had the opportunity to join Deutsche Bank and build the firm’ s European hedge fund business. A few years later, I came back to The Bahamas, seconds away from LCIS, to work at Holowesko Partners as a hedge fund analyst. I am incredibly grateful for the experience I received there, which entailed making recommendations to invest in companies. I travelled to interview the senior management teams of listed companies across several sectors in countries as far as Brazil and Japan. It was the perfect job for someone who is intellectually curious, loves to travel and idolises business builders.
After nearly a decade at Holowesko Partners, I have recently taken myself out of my comfort zone again by cofounding an asset management firm, Wincrest Capital. It is early days and we shall not cease from exploration. In many respects, by striving to build a firm where people feel valued for their contributions, different skillsets are celebrated and colleagues are encouraged to dream big, I feel as if I am, as Eliot promised, arriving where I started to know the place for the first time. My experience in the small, close-knit environment of LCIS has always enabled me to make the best of my explorations in the academic and financial world. So once again, I know this journey starts and ends with the beginning.
Thank you, LCIS.
The next phase of my journey took me on a double decker # 19 bus up Shaftesbury Avenue to my dorm at the London School of Economics( LSE). This time, I didn’ t pick up a new sport, but I did pick up a passion. Walking through the Fresher’ s Fayre, I saw a booth that read,“ The LSE Business Society.” I signed up and took responsibility for organising the Society’ s speaker series. I made a list of UK-based entrepreneurs who inspired me and wrote them each a personal letter on LSE Business Society letterhead inviting them to speak at the LSE. To my pleasant surprise, many of them actually said,“ Yes.” Speakers included, the founders of EasyJet, the Body Shop, Pret A Manger, Carphone Warehouse and LastMinute. com. What I gleaned from these entrepreneurs was that if you have the courage to start and continue dreaming big,