Jack of all Trades
“ Learning is lifelong , it is not a race ”
By Marissa Rodriguez
Clarinda Jack Dean of the Ken Gordon School of Journalism & Communication Studies Photo Credit : Dr . Joanne Lisosky
Dean at the Ken Gordon School of Journalism and Communication Studies is just one of the many accomplishments Ms Clarinda Jack has acquired in her professional life . She started her journey of academic excellence at the University of the West Indies , St Augstine , where she acquired her Diploma in Education and a Master of Arts and a Bachelor of Arts ( Honours ) in English . After leaving UWI , she ended up working at the Law Library for four years before starting her teaching career .
“ I was blown away by how many students have their own businesses and that is so encouraging , that they have the entrepreneurial spirit . They ’ re creating a niche for themselves and are not waiting for someone to hire them . I think that ’ s so amazing .”
Ms Jack , whose dream job is still to be a writer , began writing poetry in school . Unable to secure the funding from her parents to attend university abroad to study journalism , she decided to study the next best thing that she enjoyed : literature .
Before Costaatt , however , she flew to the Cayman Islands to teach students at level Form 1 - 6 at a Catholic School where she stayed for 3 years till she came back to Trinidad after her grandmother fell ill . She then started teaching at Maple Leaf International School in Trinidad .
Her first experience in teaching started at Mucurapo Senior Comprehensive , an opportunity she admits to being apprehensive about at the beginning .
“ I initially applied to COSTAATT to teach part time while I was at Maple Leaf , but I was asked at the interview to come on as a full time lecturer which I was really happy about because I always wanted to teach at a tertiary level .”
Despite the challenges , she enjoyed teaching at the school and met students of so many different backgrounds . She said , “ At the end of the day , teaching is really about giving your best to your students . If your students know that you respect them and believe in them , they ’ re going to try .”
She joined COSTAATT in 2005 as a Senior Lecturer , bringing more than 15 years of teaching experience , and became the acting chair of English and Communication Studies in 2009 . She then became acting Dean in 2011 , and was appointed Dean in 2012 .
One of her favourite COSTAATT moments was teaching the Social
Media Communication class this semester .
She continues to hold fast to her very own mantra that “ learning is lifelong , it is not a race .” She recently graduated from Southern New Hampshire University with a Master ’ s Degree in Communication , where she earned a 4.0 GPA .
Caiman Vybe | Volume 1 , No . 1 | December 9 , 2017 . 4