…After narrowly missing Presidential Scholarship
By Lakhram Bhagirat
Sherlock Junior Langevine was recently announced as the country’s fourth best performer at the 2019-2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), securing 11 ones and 8 twos.
The 19-year-old St Stanislaus College student was hoping he would be placed among the top two students in the country so that he can secure the full ride Presidential Scholarship to a college of his dreams. However, he narrowly missed that and is now appealing for assistance to cover part of his fees as he pursues studies at Stanford University in the United States.
Langevine gained CAPE Grade One passes in Pure Math Unit 1, Environmental Science Units 1 & 2, Geography Units 1 & 2, Biology Units 1 & 2, Chemistry Unit 2, Entrepreneurship Unit 1, and Communication Studies. He secured Grade Two passes in Pure Math Unit 2, Chemistry Unit 1, Physics Unit 1, Management of Business Unit 2, Applied Math Unit 1, Integrated Math, and Caribbean Studies.
He has been consistently achieving top marks having placed 17th in Guyana in the 2018 CSEC Examinations with 14 Grade Ones.
The Victoria, East Coast Demerara (ECD) youth has recently been accepted to Stanford University on a US$324,000 scholarship but needs an additional US$8400 more to attend for the next 4 years. The US$8400 is to cover his parents’ contribution to Stanford which will go to part of his living expenses and books for the course of his studies at the University.
“I come from a single parent household with 3 children and I’m a first-generation college student. My mother works a full-time job in order to support my siblings and I, which limits our ability to pay for college, even after financial aid and scholarships. We don’t expect this to fully cover the cost of attendance, but any contributions would be greatly appreciated,” Langevine wrote on his go-fund me page seeking donations to attend college.
The Sunday Times recently spoke with the young man who shared that he while he was born in Antigua, he moved to Guyana with his mother when he was just about 10 years old. He completed his primary education and wrote the common entrance examination and secured a spot at President’s College on the East Coast.
While in Form Two, he took a transfer to St Stanislaus College where he completed his secondary education.
“I come from a single parent family and my mom made a lot of sacrifices for me to go to school. At the time my mom was not working and it was kinda tough. When I reached the latter part of my secondary school, she decided she was going to sell snacks at MovieTowne because she was in the cooking business when she was in Antigua. She used the skills that she had and began to support us,” he said.
He further explained that while his father would also support him, it was not consistent until after he wrote and excelled at CSEC in 2018. That was when the support became consistent.
Langevine applied to several colleges in the US and eventually got accepted into Stanford, Northwestern University, Duke University, Howard University, and Pomona College among others. He eventually settled on Stanford where he plans to pursue studies in Chemical Engineering.
“I ultimately chose Stanford not because of just the prestige but because I made a pact with my parents that if I find a way to go to college that they would not have to pay a whole lot of money then I would be pursuing engineering. That is because they have this idea in their minds that they want me to study medicine and I did apply to UG and UWI, as safety school, and I did get into both of them, however, I decided that I was going to defer my UWI acceptance for one year and apply to overseas colleges and see where it would go,” he related.
He said applying to the colleges were challenging because no one in his school was applying and the teachers there were not familiar with the process. So, he had to do a lot of research and reached out to persons who would have undergone the process already. He eventually found mentors who walked him through the process.
The ambitious young man said that he would have already reached out to businesses and individuals in hope that they would be able to assist him so that he can raise the requisite funds.
When asked why chemical engineering and computer science, Langevine said “Chemical engineering is necessary and I would be able to contribute to the development of the Caribbean as a whole and not just Guyana. Everyone gets into Stanford undecided but I do plan on going on the path of chemical engineering and computer science. I felt like chemical engineering is the way because I am very good at chemistry. I got a perfect score at my chemistry SAT and I really like chemistry throughout my school life and I really like mathematic and working with numbers and so. I feel like it is a broad field that encompasses all of my interests. I am interested in applied sciences and I am passionate about chemistry.”
He is hopeful of being accepted in Stanford’s summer programme which commences in August and if he is unsuccessful then he would commence classes on September 13, 2021.
The young man is also hoping that persons would open their pockets and assist him to raise the funds so that he would be able to attend school for the four years.
Thus far, he has raised just about US$600 of the US$8400 target.
If you are willing to donate, Langevine can be contacted on +592-663-5073 or donations can be sent to that number via MMG. The link for his go-fund me page is https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-sherlock-attend-stanford-university.
