Nadiya Figueroa a student leader at one of the U.S. top universities more news
By Shelly-Ann Thompson, Freelance Writer


Nadiya Figueroa - Carlington Wilmot/Freelance Photographer.


TO BE elected president at one of America's Ivy League (elite) universities is an enormous achievement, especially for a non-American.
Twenty-one-year-old Nadiya Figueroa topped that challenge in April when she was elected president of the associated students' body at Stanford University in California, United States (U.S.), and became the first non-American student to hold that position.

The organisation, Nadiya explains, represents students and tends to their affairs. It is also the organisation through which other associations of the university get their funding. As such, Nadiya says she is constantly on call to represent the institution, which has a student population of about 10,000. She is called on to answer questions from the media and to speak to issues concerning students.

"I have grown so much since I have taken this position. It is a wonderful experience and I expect to gain more at the end," she told Youthlink on a recent visit home.

Nadiya, who admits to a drive to succeed, says she is primarily inspired by her parents, Dr. John Peter Figueroa, the chief medical officer Epidemiology and AIDS, at the Ministry of Health, and her mother Marciline, a lecturer at the University of the West Indies (UWI). She also notes that studying in a big country and being a minority has pushed her to be the best.

BITS AND PIECES ABOUT NADIYA

Nadiya is in her third-year... pursuing double major degrees in History and Cultural and Social Anthropology, with an emphasis on race and ethnicity.

After completing the four-year major she plans to pursue a Masters in International Relation's at the UWI.

"Missing home can be distressing", she says, explaining why she wants to continue her education in Jamaica. "I've been away for so long, right now I'm homesick missing my family and the culture itself."

At Campion College... she passed eight CXC subjects -- receiving six ones and two twos. She opted to complete her last two years of high school at a boarding institution in Boston.

Long-term goal... to uplift and promote Jamaica and hopes that other Jamaican students in the U.S. will return home and do likewise. We need put our effort into Jamaica. There is much, much more to be done.

After completing her Masters degree Nadiya says she wants to work in the government service, assisting with policy making strategies.

I am ambitious and outgoing... a good listener and I like to learn about people. That's why I like to travel as I learn about different people and their cultures.

For fun... I go to a lot of parties; the beach; 'Passa Passa' the Wednesday night party on Spanish Town Road, Kingston, across from Tivoli Gardens); family get togethers; visit rural parishes like Portland, for the scenery and Ochi Rios, for memories. I also love music love, love dancehall, and roots, oldies, Spanish, Latin and South African music. I strike a balance by knowing that after the hard work I'll get my reward. I'll work tirelessly during the week because on Friday I'll get my reward.

I also set around me... people who want to do what I want to do, making sure that my friends and I are on the same wavelength.

My parents taught me... to be passionate about whatever I'm doing. My father has been away on conventions almost every year on my birthday and I used to cry and say Daddy why do you have to leave. He would say, 'Well, it's work and they need me'. That has encouraged me to do what I love and what I want to do.

Ivy League schools... are excellent and Stanford is one of the best. It's diverse and warm. There are tremendous areas of study there and it is on the cutting edge of technology. Physically, it is beautiful with wonderful architecture. Bill Gates is also a past student.

To be successful... one must have passion and dedication at whatever you are doing. I don't consider myself as bright. I work to be brilliant. I am better with people, and organising and co-ordinating events. But to read books and lengthy documents is not me. That's why I study what I do, understanding people.

I study because... I envision where studying is going to take me. If it were just about the work I would give up but it is about what I will gain.

I achieve... not only for myself but also for those who are unable to have what I have. I try to achieve in everything that I do for the people who are not able to do it.