By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 24th September 2021) — “It’s not about being the best in everything; it’s about giving your best in everything that you do,” advised 2021 keynote speaker at the annual Prime Minister’s Independence Lecture Series Dr. Almesha L. Campbell, Ph.D., a St. Kitts-Nevis national, addressing students about the importance of education. The event was held on Wednesday 15th September 2021 at the Royal St. Kitts Resort in Frigate Bay as part of the 38th Independence Anniversary observed under the theme ‘Adapt, Diversify, Recreate: Independence 38’. Dr. Campbell currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Research and Economic Development and Director of Technology Transfer and Commercialization at Jackson State University in Mississippi.
Dr. Campbell encouraged students to think about what they want to learn and how education will help them achieve and pursue their personal aspirations. She challenged the well-known phrase about ‘who you know’ determining opportunities: “People often say that determines if you get your foot in the door. However, let me challenge that notion and argue that it is my work ethics, ambition and solid academic and social-cultural background as a Kittitian woman that instilled the courage and continue to inspire me to unhinge the proverbial door, walk through that door confidently and when necessary keep it open for others.” She shared two professional mottos: “I work for the cause and not the applause” and “I let my work speak for itself.” Students were admonished to set goals, celebrate their achievements, keep a standard and raise the bar of excellence, and adopt a mindset of scholastic perseverance — the motto of her former school Sandy Point High School.