My name is Stephanson Ottley and I'm raising money to offset airfare and travelling expenses for the President's Award Scheme.When you go away, you experience different cultures and gain a lot of benefits but it's a lot of money. So we're trying to make it a little easier on the pockets of individuals in the group.
I'm the second boy in my family, third from my mother, first and only from my father. I wouldn't say I was spoilt but being first and only from my father has its benefits.
I like to play basketball so it helps to be six foot five. I was average height in third form then I got a growth spurt. But everybody around me was still short. So I used to try to slouch, to fit in. But then I learned you have to be yourself. You're tall for a reason: lift your head up high, straighten your shoulders and you be you! Everybody can't be short! You have to cope with life. And, additionally, you have to cope with bouncing into stuff, because most surroundings cater for short people.
I'm in upper sixth at Bishop's High School, the best school in Tobago. We have good teams in basketball, football, netball, you name it. Academics and athletics go hand-in-hand at Bishop's.I would like to have a family in the future. But I'm enjoying my bachelor at the moment. Once you have an education, everything else will come. Broaden your horizons. Don't rush a family.
I was baptised in the Seventh-Day Adventist church. My belief is that God is the one who has brought me thus far in my academic and social life.Karl Marx said religion is the opium of the people. But I can see that a secular society has its benefits.I have no problem with a female prime minister. I believe everyone should be equal, even in a relationship. Is a cohesive process, and if one person feel he better than the other, that will lead to conflict.
Approximately five people will be going in the silver group. We have a bronze, a silver and a gold group. Basically the programme is geared for young people aged 18-25. You have to 14-16 to be a bronze. Sixteen and over, up to 25, could be your silver. When you reach at the gold level, you do a residential project.
I did my silver in 2011. Two silver, practising, then a silver qualifying. My qualifying hike was called, "the Easter Beaster," and the name says it all. A hike to Paria. We went to Las Cuevas, too. Four days of hiking. That qualified me to go to CASC, the Caribbean Award Sub-Regional Council, in Bahamas, a regional programme from people from all over the world, in this case from the Caribbean.
I want to share the experience that the President's Award can benefit the individual. It brings personal development more holistically in areas like academics. It make you a more all-round person.You got to start raising funds somewhere and our first official fund-raiser was a barbecue on the Milford Road Esplanade in Scarborough. You try to raise awareness about the President Award as well as money.
Every kind of fund-raiser is good, depending on how you look at it. You have to give 110 per cent. If someone gives $5, we are very thankful for it!Tobago is known for a lot of different cultures existing at one time. You have the Spanish, French, the Africans. Race and colour mean nothing when you talking about who is a Tobagonian.
You might be African and have a Caucasian wife. Or you might be Caucasian yourself, but you was born here. You're a Trinbagonian. If you have a wife who is also Caucasian and you have a offspring, the child will be Tobagonian. You can't judge someone based on their skin colour.
I consider myself to be Trinbagonian and I know for sure we are very friendly people. We get along with everybody quite wellTrinidad and Tobago is a diverse country. I'd like to believe we all live in harmony. But you could never be sure what is lurking in the dark.
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