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Whatever You Do, Do It Well!

Years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Boys and Girls Championships in Kingston, Jamaica as a media representative. This trip, I must say, was my most enjoyable trip out of all the many events that I have attended around the world. As the Boys and Girls Champs came to a close, and Wolmer’s Boys and Holmwood Girls ran onto the field, the winners of the 100th year anniversary of Champs; a single tear slipped out of the corner of my eye.

The memory of years spent at Wolmer’s flooded my brain as I recalled my years as a student at the prestigious school and the lessons that I learnt. Ms. Pinto, our English Head Mistress, who not only ruled with an iron fist, but also lived on the property to ensure the safety of all the students, instilled in us to exceed at everything. Now, as a grown woman, I had to ask myself, “Was my school motto, (Age Quod Agis); to do whatever you do well, being accomplished by living in another man’s country?” Did I cheat myself and my country by choosing to live in Canada?

The competitors, especially the girls, with many pulled off the field on stretchers, reminded me that I was a Caribbean woman; full of hope and many talents. Wolmer’s, incidentally, was the very first school to win Champs 100 years ago, so it was fitting that they should win this 100th year Games. This experience, while it served as a reminder of the resiliency of the Jamaican people, the rich ancestry of my past, and the never say die attitude of all Jamaicans; also allowed me to examine myself and really ask, would I be living in Beverly Hills, like so many others my age who lived on the island?

“Sandy, yu caan really look at it that way,” a native Jamaican friend of mine said to me while discussing the issue. “The fact is that your family made that decision for you at the time because they thought it was best for you. You cannot change the past.” he said. “Good for him to say,” I thought to myself, as he was the same age as myself, and was the CEO of one of the local television stations. Going out to lunch with him was certainly a treat, as everywhere that we went, the imaginary red carpet was rolled out. He also had disclosed to me that the minute he graduated from the Ivy League school that he had attended in the U.S, he had “his Doctorate in one hand and a one way ticket back home in the other.”

Who is to say where you would be if you had stayed in your own country, after your years of High School? Maybe, yes, as my cousin said, “Sandy, yu would have definitely landed one of those big jobs deh man.” Or maybe I would have ended up working in a Bank, using my O Levels, as it was called back then to at least position myself for somewhat of a stable future. No one is to say of course, but the ever present thought in my head, similar to the other oldies sitting in the stadium, in all our respective school ties and belts, squeezing into shirts which no longer fit, was where did all the years go and if only I could do it all over again!

The choice to leave one’s own country is never easy; the road is unknown and the way uncertain. Yet, the decision to leave and to live in a foreign land, will not only erase many memories of your past life but also rob you of the opportunity to grow as an adult in an environment that is your own; hence making you unsure of your capabilities and your own God given talents. Your footprints are etched in your own country’s soil, so understandably it will allow you to prosper.

Our successes on the world stage, whether you chose to leave or become a “foreigner”, as someone called me while on the island, reflects our Ashanti tribe attributes given to us by our forefathers. We are warriors and will forever strive for the best. In the words of my Wolmer’s school motto, passed down from generations I say to you, “Age Quod Agis”.

As the late, great Nelson Mandela once said, “There is no passion to be found playing small-in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” Hopefully I am living up to my potential!

Sandy Daley is a columnist, radio and television personality and actress. She is also the author of “Whose Vagina Is It, Really?” She can be contacted at: Website: www.sandydaley.com, Facebook: womanincontrol@facebook.com, Twitter: twitter.com/whosevaginaisit and/or Email: thesinglegirlspot@gmail.com.

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