gomez2abba

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experience"

  • About

Dr Beverly Ann Scott

Posted by gomez2abba on April 5, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. 2 Comments

Dr Beverly Ann Scott

…and ‘The Stolen Cascadura’

By By Kimberly Castillo  

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/woman-magazine/Dr_Beverly_Ann_Scott-182620381.html

Story Created: Dec 7, 2012 at 10:03 PM ECT

Story Updated: Dec 7, 2012 at 10:03 PM ECT 

SHE couldn’t believe her luck. As Dr Beverley-Ann Scott fumbled to put her car keys into the ignition she felt a surge of excitement coursing through her veins. Knowing that literary icon Earl Lovelace was sitting next to her on the passenger seat was overwhelming. Talk about a dream come true!

It was while they attended a meeting at the Writers’ Union during which Lovelace was the guest speaker, that Scott met the man who has to a large extent influenced her as a writer. The opportunity rose for Scott to offer Lovelace a ride home and, well, it was a chance she couldn’t pass up. Sitting side by side in her Renault, Scott drank in the sight of Lovelace — his metal-rimmed glasses, salt-and-pepper hair and the deep lines that framed his mouth like parentheses. At that moment, Scott was transported back to the days, when as a pupil at St Joseph’s Convent, San Fernando, she was giddy with enthusiasm when she learned that her English Literature class would be reading and studying Lovelace’s The Wine of Astonishment. That West Indian literary classic would remain Scott’s favourite book and Lovelace to this day remains Scott’s favourite author.

I can’t wait to tell everyone who I met today! Scott thought to herself as she put the car in drive. Things were going so well, the duo chatted away and discussed ideas – that is until Scott realised her gas tank was leaking and she had to stop the car along the Queen’s Park Savannah. Scott’s face turned red with embarrassment. She couldn’t believe how quickly her good luck had turned into misfortune — all in a matter of minutes.

“I was so embarrassed, because that was when I had my old Renault. Imagine, I get this chance to meet Earl Lovelace and look my car shut down. I have this gas leak!” exclaims Scott, still blushing as she recounted the incident.

But Lovelace wasn’t fazed at all, Scott recalls. In fact the the pair walked to the closest vendor and drank coconut water and picked up the conversation where they left off as they waited for one of her friends to pick them up. Seeing the down to earth and humble nature of a writer of Lovelace’s calabre left a strong impression on Scott.

Since then, the two have remained friends with Scott occasionally seeking writing advice from Lovelace. Their meeting it turns out, was quite fortuitous. Two years later, Scott’s novel The Stolen Cascadura was selected by Nalis for the 2012 One Book, One Community award. While The Stolen Cascadura is a work of fiction, Scott writes strikingly of the harsh realities of life for many in communities across Trinidad and Tobago.

Scott’s own life experiences, however will make for interesting reading especially if you’ve been too afraid to follow your dreams because of the unknown. Learning how Scott was determined to leave a promising career in her 20s to pursue something entirely different and challenging despite health scares and rejection may move you to go after your dreams and not put if off for another day.

From the moment she completed her Advanced Levels at the age of 18, Scott began working, first as a bank teller, then as an account executive and part-time lecturer. While she worked, she also gained her BSc in Information Systems Management from the London School of Economics.

At the age of 27, Scott had a promising future in the banking/busines sector but something was missing. She yearned to make a difference in the lives of others, and more and more her heartstrings were tugging in the direction of medicine. Scott felt certain that becoming a doctor would fulfill this burning desire to help others. But her A’level grades were not outstanding and while she was accepted to pursue mechanical engineering at The University of the West Indies, her application to study medicine there was rejected. Scott knew she had to study sciences and repeat her A’levels if she was to have a shot at The UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences so she left her job at the bank to concentrate on her studies. In the interim she landed a job as a part-time feature writer with the Catholic News. It was a shock to many and needless to say, her decision was not a popular one among her colleagues.

“They couldn’t understand. It was a shock to many. In the banking world, people thought, “you’re leaving your job to be a journalist with the Catholic News?” It just didn’t make sense to a lot of people but it made sense to me,” says Scott.

As a feature writer for the Catholic News, Scott met a lot of people who, because of circumstances, had to forego doing what they really wanted to in life.

“I remembered thinking to myself, I don’t want to say I always wanted to do something but never got the chance. So that motivated me. Even though I thought I was too old to get into medicine, I didn’t want missing out on medical school to be one of my life’s biggest regrets,” she says.

She was eventually accepted into an offshore medical school and graduated at the top of her class. She wanted to transfer to The UWI Faculty of Medical Sciences and felt sure that her application and exceptional grades would be accepted but again she was rejected.

With two rejections, Scott was very low on funds and very dispondent. She was also dealing with health scares and had to have major surgery, not once but twice. She felt her energy being sapped and even gave thought to going back to the business sector, like the prodigal son returning to the arms of his father. She felt like giving up.

Just then she was encouraged by a friend who had transferred to a medical school in the Philippines to apply there since the quality of clinical experience and teaching at the school is of a very high standard. She applied and was accepted as a third year student at the Our Lady of Fatima University in Manila, Philippines. She learned Tagalog, the first language of the majority of Filipinos, to better communicate with locals, had to travel as many as three hours to get to her assigned hospital and adjusted to the rigors of the programme.

The rest, as they say, is history. She graduated from medical school in 2009, returned to Trinidad and is now a house officer in the surgery department in one of our public hospitals.

“If I believed I wasn’t smart enough to do medicine based on my two rejections from UWI, I would not be a doctor today. I was just very determined that this was the path that God was leading me on and I felt sure that he would make a way out for me,” she says.

It’s still difficult getting up early in the mornings to run off to the hospital since most times Scott is still drained from the previous day’s activities and there are systemic problems in the hospitals that need to be fixed urgently, she admits. But every time she makes her rounds on the wards, there is a great sense of accomplishment that envelops her.

“Being a doctor is about having the passion to care for others in their most vulnerable moments and being prepared to put in the hard work, the long hours of study that are required to have the knowledge needed to make decisions in the best interest of the patient, especially when those decisions mean the difference between life and death,” says Scott.

There are not many authors/doctors out there but somehow in her tight schedule Scott still finds the time devote to her first love — writing. Later this month her second novel — Is America She Gone? will be released.

‘Sandra’ the protagonist in Scott’s latest novel leaves her children behind in Trinidad to work illegally as a caregiver in the US and soon realises that America is not the place she imagined it to be. She sends barrels to her children back home but loses sight of what is really important — family. She eventually returns to Trinidad to learn the hard way that money cannot take the place of a parent’s love and the price she pays for her decision is greater than she ever imagined it would be.

The Stolen Cascadura is available at all the leading bookstores. Is America She Gone? will be on bookshelves from December 15.

Whatever may be your dream, don’t let rejection slow you down, Scott advises young ones today.

Says Scott, “One of the things I have learnt in my life is that rejection is not the enemy. Just because someone says to you ‘I don’t think you can do something’, doesn’t mean that you can’t do it.”

 

 

Are Your Digital Documents Web Friendly?: Making Scanned Documents Web Accessible

Posted by gomez2abba on March 30, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Are Your Digital Documents Web Friendly?: Making Scanned Documents Web Accessible.

At Some Libraries, Patrons Can Pay Fines with Food, Which Is Then Donated to the Poor

Posted by gomez2abba on March 29, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. 2 Comments

http://www.neatorama.com/
1385515047-0

(Unrelated photo via wanderingone)

Food for Fines is a charity event at some libraries in the United States. At the South Burlington Community Library in South Burlington, Vermont, patrons with library fines can donate food items. For every item that they donate, they pay off $2 of accumulated library fines.

At the Park City Library in Park City, Utah, patrons have to pay a bit more: each food item is worth $1 in fines. The Warren Public Library in Warren, Pennsylvania is engaging in a similar program in order to help fill up a local food bank operated by the Salvation Army.

Promoting your school library

Posted by gomez2abba on March 29, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

Posted by gomez2abba on March 25, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki

I honestly think that this website is useful, it can be used to find information about other libraries it can also help with the reference links that it provides for example, if you click under “Reference Services and Information Literacy” you will find some links, clicking on the first one that says “Free Online Reference Resources” You will see a page with different clickable information that is very informational ,you can look at newspapers and magazines, this Wiki is very useful.

Let’s discuss

Posted by gomez2abba on March 25, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Let’s discuss.

 Information and Computer Technologies (ICT’s) in libraries in Trinidad and Tobago.

It was reported that Trinidad and Tobago is a Facebook Nation . What would the implications of this be for libraries?

In the Library world there are still a lot of Issues with regards to the use of Facebook in Libraries, for example at the Secondary School Library where I am employed, and also in School libraries across Trinidad and Tobago, the Ministry of Education has blocked access to Facebook.

In light of the many technological advancement or web 2.0, there are still many issues regarding the ”Traditional libraries’ and Library 2.0. The question of how far libraries are willing to go in this transition needs to be addressed.

Seeing that Facebook can be used both positively and negatively; for libraries to allow the use of Facebook in the School Library is cause for discussion, because children can use this as a tool to build and strengthen behavior that is not sanction in a school environment.

So what are the implications of this for libraries? I honestly think that Facebook can be used as an information tool to market the Library; therefore the use of Facebook should be used in public and academic libraries. I am not sure if this can be recommended for Secondary Schools as yet, if this is to be implemented there needs to be a system of supervision for schools.

Generally speaking, Facebook should be used as a tool to communicated and disseminate information because there are lot of competition from Google. In order for the library to have meaning and relevance it must be able to reach the people where they can be reached.

Posted by gomez2abba on March 25, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment
New study on digital media use…

T&T a Facebook nation

Published: 
Friday, June 21, 2013
  • Tweet
Text Size:      12px     14px     16px     18px     20px     22px     

More than 42 per cent of T&T’s 18-35-year-olds spend more than 11 hours a week consuming digital media. These are among the findings of a survey commissioned by Caribbean Ideas, the digital business solutions company which was behind the Caribbean Digital Expo conference, on the Digital Habits and Practices of Young Trinidad & Tobago.

 

Co-founder and CEO Chike Farrell noted: “That’s at least 1⁄4 of a typical work-week being spent on these channels, indicating the extent to which digital media usage is “always-on” for a large number of people in this segment. “This underscores for marketers that a key portion of their target customer base is literally almost always addressable in some way via digital technology, which creates important implications for marketing strategy and budget allocation.”

 

The in-depth analysis provides insight into how the digitally-enabled people spend their time answering questions like how much time they spend online, which social media platforms they frequent, what they do on those and other sites and more. More than 2,000 people were surveyed in March and April of 2013, with a primary focus on 16-34-year -olds, along with a smaller population of 35 to 44-year-olds for comparison purposes.

 

The recently released 2011 Census revealed that over 33 per cent of the nation’s population are between the ages of 15 and 34, which comprises the majority of the future earners and customer base for the nation’s businesses, making this an important segment to understand for marketers and business leaders.

 

Farrell said: “In the past three years, marketers in Trinidad and Tobago have increasingly turned to social media and digital to reach their target customers. They’ve been driven there by pressures to spend budgets more cost-effectively, and the awareness of the increasing time their customers were spending consuming media digitally (via the Web, mobile and social media).”

 

He said “the core insights that drove most businesses to invest more in digital were a general observation of shifting trends, and important, but limited statistics, like the growing number of Facebook profiles in Trinidad & Tobago and general information on Internet and mobile penetration. “The thing that’s always challenged marketers is getting deeper insight into exactly how young people are actually spending their time when they’re consuming digital media. That’s been a big challenge… until now.”

 

Other data in focus in the study included a dive into social media usage in T&T. This country has has been dubbed a “Facebook nation” in the past, and this platform not surprisingly leads with 97.3 per cent of the surveyed population stating that they have a Facebook account. Of interest to marketers and businesses, however, will be that Twitter and YouTube are increasingly important ways to interact with this audience, with 34 per cent and three per cent, respectively, reporting having accounts with these services.

 

Ramon Gregorio, chief curiosity officer at Lucent Research, explained the need for the study. “Where local media consumption is concerned, there have been specific phenomena of interest centred around digital behaviour, which marketers have been attempting to collate on their own using external sites for reference. “It’s always been very difficult to try to explain behaviour of specific local audience segments, by applying foreign statistics in broad strokes to the local market. 

 

“The Digital Habits and Practices study is an attempt to bridge this data gap and paint a picture that is actually representative of Trinidad and Tobago.” This research study was commissioned by Caribbean Ideas and executed in partnership with independent collection and data analysis company SacodaServ, with results review and report writing by Lucent Research.

 

The study includes information on time spent consuming digital media, social media usage, most popular activities when consuming digital media, as well as sections on mobile data usage and financial habits and digital. The report becomes available for purchase from Caribbean Ideas on Tuesday and will provide local marketers and business leaders with a level of insight that is needed to add a level of local veracity to their investments across the digital divide. 

 

Interested parties can visit www.caribbeanideas.com or call the company at 221-9782 for more details.

Dangers of Fast Foods:

Posted by gomez2abba on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Dangers of Fast Foods:

 

Health Risks

Most people who indulge in fast food often are busy, stressed out families who do not have time for a home cooked meal.  If the stress is not making them sick, their food choices will.  Fast food is full of refined sugars and fats.  They are also loaded with sodium.  Not to mention the sugary sodas that accompany a value meal.

Here are a few health risks caused by fast food consumption:

The rapid increase in the incidence of adult diabetes has been linked to the standard American diet and it’s high percentage of good old fast food. Insulin resistance, which is the first stage in this disease can also cause rapid weight gain which can be very hard to lose. Diabetes can cause blindness and even limb amputation.

Obesity causes increased pressure to the heart which leads to multiple cardiovascular diseases.

The saturated fat in fast food causes an increase in plaque around the arteries. The plaque makes it harder for blood to flow to heart leading to heart attacks and strokes.

This image displays what a healthy artery should look like, and what a clogged artery looks like.

 

10 ways to get your child interested in reading:

Posted by gomez2abba on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: http://www.mercyhome.org/10-ways-get-your-child-interested-reading. 3 Comments

You can encourage reading for a child in your life – here are just a few ways:

  1. Pay attention to what your child is interested in, and encourage him or her to read books on those subjects.
  2. Set aside time to read with your child every day. Spend time reading together just before bed and take turns reading out loud with younger children.
  3. Set time aside every week for family reading night.
  4. Make reading a daily part of life, including reading road signs, recipes and directions out loud.
  5. Make reading interactive – ask your children’s opinions on what they are reading.
  6. Set goals, such as challenging your child to read three books over Christmas break.
  7. Ask older children to help younger ones with reading. This activity will boost older kids’ confidence, in addition to providing important practice for younger children.
  8. Spend at least an hour a week at the library.
  9. Actively encourage children to read and congratulate them on their progress.
  10. Set an example—seeing you read will encourage your child to do the same!

What is the future of the library?

Posted by gomez2abba on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Posts navigation

← Older Entries
  • Blogroll

    • Discuss
    • Get Inspired
    • Get Polling
    • Get Support
    • http://cilcostaatt2014.wordpress.com/
    • http://cilcostaatt2014.wordpress.com/
    • Learn WordPress.com
    • library
    • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
    • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
    • The Dixie Grammar School Library Services Website
    • Theme Showcase
    • WordPress Planet
    • WordPress.com News
  • Recent Comments

    gomez2abba on 10 ways to get your child inte…
    malachialexis on What is the future of the…
    infobloomer on Dr Beverly Ann Scott
    gomez2abba on Dr Beverly Ann Scott
    gomez2abba on Promoting your school lib…
  • Recent Posts

    • Dr Beverly Ann Scott
    • Are Your Digital Documents Web Friendly?: Making Scanned Documents Web Accessible
    • At Some Libraries, Patrons Can Pay Fines with Food, Which Is Then Donated to the Poor
    • Promoting your school library
    • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
  • Top Posts & Pages

    • Dr Beverly Ann Scott
    • Are Your Digital Documents Web Friendly?: Making Scanned Documents Web Accessible
    • At Some Libraries, Patrons Can Pay Fines with Food, Which Is Then Donated to the Poor
    • Promoting your school library
    • Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki
    • Let's discuss
    • New study on digital media use...T&T a Faceboo…
    • Dangers of Fast Foods:
    • 10 ways to get your child interested in reading:
    • What is the future of the library?
  • February 2021
    M T W T F S S
    1234567
    891011121314
    15161718192021
    22232425262728
    « Apr    
  • Blogs I Follow

    • Zebach SDA Church
    • gomez2abba
    • Fast Food Mania
    • Libblogs
    • The Underground Writer
    • The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh!
    • Nirbaran's Blog
    • Computer Applications in Libraries COSTAATT
    • Young Adults Believers in CHRIST Book Club
    • The Daily Post
    • The WordPress.com Blog
    • RSS - Posts
    • RSS - Comments
Blog at WordPress.com.
Zebach SDA Church

Christian Evangelism powered by Jesus Christ

gomez2abba

"Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experience"

Fast Food Mania

Just another WordPress.com site

Libblogs

Exploration of Blogs and Library Initiatives

The Underground Writer

Observations simply stated.

The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh!

Opening books to open minds.

Nirbaran's Blog

Just another WordPress.com weblog

Computer Applications in Libraries COSTAATT

Libraries and ICT

Young Adults Believers in CHRIST Book Club

Just another WordPress.com site

The Daily Post

The Art and Craft of Blogging

The WordPress.com Blog

The latest news on WordPress.com and the WordPress community.

gomez2abba
Blog at WordPress.com.
Cancel

 
Loading Comments...
Comment
    ×
    Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
    To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy