NEAR the village of Brickfield, in Trinidad’s interior, there is a woman who walks the main road most days, talking to herself, and to anyone who has time to spare.
One morning in July 2019, she stopped at a roadside carat shed outside the Agriculture Ministry’s Forestry Division office and told an incredulous story to the workers.
It was about what she had heard coming from deep in the bush while walking along a lonely stretch of the Tabaquite Main Road the week ­before.
There was an explosion in the forest, she told them, and a sound like thunder, and then the crackling of falling trees.
Birds flew from the direction of the sound, she said. Then there was silence.
The forest workers suspected they knew what was the source of the disturbance.
So the gang of seven, whose job it is maintain vast acreages of teak in a part of Trinidad desperate for development, went in search.

With chainsaws and cutlasses, they cut a path into the woods off Colonzo Trace, and walked more than a kilo­metre before abandon­ing the effort.
All they found was deepening bush, and too many snakes, according to Forestry worker Suresh Roopnarine.
But there was still some daylight left, and curiosity got the better of them.
So they decided to clear an old timber access road, and chopped a path for about two kilometres before coming upon what the wo­man had heard.
A mud volcano had erupted to life, tearing down the forest trees, and clearing an area of at least two acres.
In the midst of greenery, they found a roiling lake of mud and severed trees.
And it continues to throw up new deposits, slowly expanding outward, the Express noted during a visit days later.
Surreal sight 
There were no hou­ses nearby.
The nearest resident, living about three kilometres from the site, said he had no idea it had happened, and had no plan to visit “a big hole in the ground”.
The damage done was to the forest trees, many pushed over by the mud flow, others snapped like twigs.
It is a surreal sight. A lake of mud surrounded by a wall of trees, in the shape of a footprint.
The new mud volcano is located about eight kilometres east of the Pi­paro mud volcano, whic­h erupted in February 1997, burying the roadway, homes and vehicles.
And the last time there was an eruption of this magnitude was February 2018 when the dormant Devil’s Wood­yard mud volcano belched to life and disgorged mud 100 metres wide and 1.8 metres deep.
Senior geoscientist at Touchstone Exploration Xavier Moonan and members of the Geolo­gi­cal Society of Trinidad and Tobago Keston Brown and Stefon Harry­persad trekked into the forest and conducted an initial study.
Said Moonan then: “The flow is fairly recent... we can’t estimate exactly when. The leaves of the trees that fell due to the mud flow are still green, but we were advised by experienced for­esters that these particular trees can remain with green leaves even after they have been felled for months. The mud itself hasn’t been weathered much, and the flow structures are still very distinct, so I would estimate it happened in the last couple weeks at maximum.”
He said from the historical data and satellite imagery, it appears that the July eruption was the first large-scale one since at least 1940.

Moonan’s information was corroborated by village elders who recall visiting the site decades ago and seeing multiple conical vents in the forest before the woods became impenetrable and the site passed into memory. Call it Polly Maharaj
So, what caused the eruption?
Faults are breaks in the rocks and can extend to significant depths in the earth.
The Brickfield mud volcano is located on what geologists know as the Tabaquite fault. At depths below the Taba­quite area, there are sands with oil, gas and salt water trapped by clays.
The movement on the fault allows the trap to break for an instant, allowing the water, oil and gas to escape, said Moonan, who is also vice-president of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Latin America and Carib­bean region.
The fluids travel upwards to the surface where they pick up bits of rock—clay, sandstone and limestone along the way, and this is the mud flow that we see when it explodes at the surface.
And although the Piparo mud volcano is nearby, it is not related to the Brickfield mud volcano since they occur on separate faults, said Moonan.
Regarding the size of the eruption, Moonan said the mud flow covers an area similar to the size at Devil’s Woodyard.
The team measured the maximum length of mud flow at 165 metres (a football field is 110 metres in length) and the maximum width at 76 metres.
The geologists said the mud flow was expelled in a north-westerly direction along a three-degree gradient slope, with the flow turning to the north at approximately 33 metres downslope.
And the estimated volume of mud expelled?
It’s 1,740 cubic metres or approximately 11,000 barrels. The mud flow is much less thick than that which was observed at the Devil’s Woodyard eruption, hence the volume is significantly less.
Despite this, the force of the eruption was just as damaging, felling lots of trees in its path.
And for adventurers interested in seeing this natural phenomenon, there is a warning,
It’s not near a road, so be prepared to hike along a forest trail, on State lands. And there will be snakes.
Do not go alone. Do not go at night. Walk with water. Wear the right footwear. It’s going to be muddy.
And you can call it Polly Maharaj. That’s the name of the woman who discovered it. (Source: Daily Express, July 13, 2022)

The Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) International has announced that the student chapter of The University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, has won the 2022 presidential award for outstanding student chapter.
Student chapter awards recognise those who succeed in fulfilling SPE’s mission by serving local members, The UWI said in a release.
The awards honour exemplary efforts in industry engagement, operations and planning, community and social outreach, and more.
The presidential award for outstanding student chapter is the highest honour a student chapter can receive, the university said.
It recognises the top five percent of student chapters around the world that are exemplary in the scoring categories and are presented at the SPE annual technical conference and exhibition which will be held this October in Houston, Texas
"A congratulatory letter from SPE President Kamel Ben Naceur notes that the student chapter should be very proud of its many exceptional accomplishments over the past year—especially during this unique time," the release said.
It also quoted Naceur as saying, "This achievement would not be possible without the dedication of the officers. Thank you for volunteering your time to fulfil SPE’s mission by serving local members and furthering the advancement of the society.”
Professor Raffie Hosein, head of UWI's Department of Chemical Engineering in the Faculty of Engineering, was extremely proud of the student chapter achievements.
“The UWI SPE Student Chapter has won this award three consecutive times, in 2020, 2021 and again in 2022," he said. (Source: Newday, May 29, 2022)

THE Government has put the struggling four-star Tobago hotel, the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort, up for sale.
This was confirmed in an expression of interest on the Evolving Technologies (eTecK) website on Friday.
The request for expressions of interest is for any qualified international operator, investor and/or purchaser for the resort. The entity/entities must have a proven track record to provide a structure to allow for the renovation, repositioning, branding and an overall plan to improve the performance of the resort.
The expressions of interest gives prospective parties three options:
1) An internationally branded operator to manage the resort ,or a third-party hotel management operator, with the brand being franchised;
2) Investor for the property – a strategic partner who will provide capital investment and bring the necessary management and branding expertise.
3) Outright purchase of the entire resort.
ETecK, which is responsible for the lease operatorship of the resort, had entered into an agreement with an international operator in 2012 to manage the operations and drive revenues and occupancy levels of the hotel since its rebranding and reopening.
ETecK oversees capital works on the resort, which comprises 178 rooms and 22 suites.
The resort was opened initially as the Tobago Hilton in 2000 and closed in 2008. It was rebranded as the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort in 2011. (Source; Newsday, April 29, 2022)

The University of the West Indies (UWI) announced on Saturday Prof Rose-Marie Belle Antoine as the new principal of the university’s St Augustine campus. The decision was made during the UWI’s University Council meeting on April 29.
The appointment takes effect on August 1, and Antoine will replace outgoing principal Prof Brian Copeland and become the first woman to hold the post.
The UWI’s website states Antoine is a Cambridge and Oxford scholar who holds a doctorate from Oxford University in offshore financial law.
Antoine started her journey with the UWI as a temporary law lecturer at the Cave Hill campus in 1989 and then became a lecturer in 1991.
Since then, she has served in several high-ranking positions at  UWI including law faculty dean and pro vice-chancellor of the Board for Graduate Studies and Research.
During her time as law faculty dean, Antoine was instrumental in creating the Makandal Daaga Scholarship, which is an equal-opportunity scholarship aiming to support law students who are outstanding in and out of the classroom.
Contacted for comment, Antoine noted Copeland was still principal until her appointment takes effect.
Until then, Antoine said, “I would like to give the incumbent some courtesy, so I prefer to comment later. Thanks for reaching out.”
But senior lecturer at the UWI’s Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS) Dr Gabrielle Hosein told Sunday Newsday Antoine’s appointment was a step in the right direction.
“Over the last decades, there has been a slow erosion of male dominance in UWI’s administrative hierarchy, and Prof Belle Antoine’s appointment as principal is another, significant crack in that old glass ceiling following a number of women, such as Prof Rhoda Reddock, holding the post of deputy principal.”
Pointing out Antoine has been an ally of the IGDS, Hosein said she has an excellent track record of inclusive leadership with the unwavering support of human rights and social justice efforts relating to LGBTI non-discrimination, administrative and carceral injustice, marijuana decriminalisation and rights for people with disabilities.
“We welcome a UWI principal with such an outstanding record of challenging inequity and exclusion and their intersections with patriarchal and other inequities.
“We are confident about her capacity to inspire and to draw the resources of the region toward strengthening the UWI and its capacity to transform the region.”
Outside of her work with the UWI, Antoine has served as president of the Organization of American States Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where she has also been the rapporteur for Persons of African Descent and rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples.
As chairman of Caricom's marijuana commission, Antoine has been an advocate for the decriminalisation of marijuana and the creation of a sustainable cannabis industry.
She also currently serves as president of the Family Planning Association. The association’s executive director Ava Rampersad described Antoine as a down-to-earth, committed leader who is particularly passionate about the development of young people.
Rampersad said, “She is firm when she needs to be firm, she is very innovative and open to ideas.
“Once you are able to approach her from a perspective of coming with your evidence to say something, she would definitely support you.”
She said Antoine is someone who operates from a place of integrity.
“It is no surprise someone with that calibre would be appointed as the principal of the UWI.
“We at the association are very proud of her. We are honoured by her accolades, and we continue to support her in her endeavours.”
Former principals of UWI St Augustine campus include Prof Clement Sankat (2008-2016), former MP Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie (2001-2007), Prof Compton Bourne (1996-2001), former president George Maxwell Richards (1985-1996), Prof Lloyd Braithwaite (1969-1984), Sir Dudley Huggins (1963-1969) and Sir Philip Sherlock (1960-1963). (Source: Newsday, May 1, 2022)

Many who knew Desmond Waithe, 77, referred to him as “Uncle Desmond,” and so many mourned when news of his death was shared on Wednesday.
The noted steelband arranger, chorister, educator and University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) lecturer died on April 20 after a prolonged illness.
He was awarded the Humming Bird Medal (silver) in 1993 for outstanding contribution to music in TT. He is also well-known for his work with the Marionettes Chorale.
He was also the father of Melanie Waithe, head of Newsday's subediting department.
Pan Trinbago issued a statement about Waithe’s passing, saying he was a musician, educator, conductor and arranger who made a significant contribution to the steelpan community and to TT’s culture.
Pan Trinbago president Beverley Ramsey-Moore said in a phone interview on Wednesday that when she heard of his death on Wednesday morning she was shocked.
“Especially in this time, when so many of our musicians and our leaders in the pan movement are going home to be with the Lord. I was really shocked we lost another great man.
“We really want to express our condolences to his family, friends and Exodus steel orchestra. He was involved with Exodus and doing great work to build the orchestra.”
Exodus manager Ainsworth Mohammed said he had lost more than a friend, but a brother.
“Our relationship with Desmond started not just with Exodus, because we are all Tunapuna people.”
He said Waithe was with Nutones before that, and 1987 was the first time he arranged for the band for Panorama, choosing This Party Is It by Christopher “Tambu” Herbert.
“We were in the finals with that Panorama. Thereafter, he did classical music for us.
"Desmond’s relationship with Exodus is more than that too. Desmond was the founder of Exocubs, our junior music school.”
Mohammed recalled that Waithe was responsible for giving the music school its name. He said this came out of a session when the junior players were invited to play at an event in Connecticut, US.
“He has always helped out. He grilled the band.
"He is more than an arranger or music teacher for the band, he was more family. And so many of our people know him as Uncle Desmond and that sort of thing,” Mohammed said, becoming emotional.
He added however the family wished for him to be honoured, the bandwould do so.
“I have lost a friend and a brother. We grew up in Tunapuna, the families knew each other in Tunapuna. It was more than just the relationship with steelband and music. There was far more to it than it….it is more like a brother I have lost,” he said becoming emotional again.
BP Renegades president Colin Greaves said Waithe worked with Renegades for many years as its classical music director, a position he took up in 2007.
He said, in fact, Waithe took the band on multiple tours all over the world, including the largest classical music festival in France, La Folle Journee.
“Under his stewardship at La Folle Journee, BP Renegades would have really acquired a world-class and world-renowned reputation for being leaders in classical music repertoires.
“In addition to that, Mr Waithe was really a father figure in the band. So many of the players have been sharing stories about his involvement and influence on their lives, in terms of mentoring, advising them on what path they should take.”
He said Waithe was also a stickler for discipline and a father figure in the band and pan community.
“A couple of weeks or days before he passed – because we knew he was pretty ill – he was recently working with us up until December 2021, because we were preparing to go to La Folle Journee, but we had some issues with getting vaccination clearance documents and stuff,” Greaves said.
Waithe made it known then that it would have been his last trip with the band. He said the band cherished the last couple of months it was able to spend with Waithe.
He said Waithe's death is a huge loss to BP Renegades and the pan community.
He added that Waithe expressed his final wishes to the band and in the coming days it will announce details of wakes in the panyard, among other plans.
One of his best friends, veteran pierrot grenade Felix Edinborough, said he first met Waithe at Mausica Teachers’ College. Waithe taught him to play the cuatro then, he said, and they were both in the Mausica Teachers’ choir.
After Mausica, Waithe formed a choir called Chaconia Singers and Edinborough was also a member.
“Anytime he wanted a script – he would do little shows – I would be the one writing the script, organising and directing the shows for him,” he recalled.
Waithe formed another choir after this called Stentor Choir and they also worked together there.
“We did some tours together. For example, we went to Montserrat together with the group to do some shows,” he said.
Edinborough said he and Waithe also worked together with late dancer Molly Ahye and toured the US and Canada with her.
Waithe also worked on Best Village shows for Tunapuna and Edinborough for Petit Valley, but they “always collaborated because we were in Belmont together (Belmont Boys' Secondary School).”
Waithe taught there for over 33 years.
Edinborough said Waithe was like a brother to him and anytime he wanted to know more about music and the cuatro, Waithe would help him.
“We were a good team together. We did one or two shows together at Queen’s Hall,” he said.
Dr Mia Gormandy-Benjamin, assistant professor of music at UTT and artistic director of Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra – who worked with Waithe at UTT and who was also once his student – said Waithe was an icon and walking encyclopaedia.
“If you met him, you surely would have heard a story or two about the history of calypso, pan, parang, or any other local style of music. He was also kind, generous, and a witty individual who cracked jokes very easily, which made everyone around him laugh heartily.”
She added that he was a teacher, friend and colleague to many and his impact was clearly shown through the widespread response to his passing.
“Today we shed tears of sadness, but also of joy for having had the opportunity to know this amazing and inspiring individual. We will forever remember him through the beautiful music he has written and the legacies of the many organisations he has impacted,” she said.
Waithe leaves to mourn his wife Melissa Lynch Waithe, children Melanie, Jace, Marvin and Jordan and five grandchildren. (Source: Newsday, April 20, 2022)

The St. Augustine Campus Community announces the appointment of Trinidad and Tobago born Dr Rhonda McEwen has been appointed president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.
According to this release, Dr Rhonda McEwen begins her 5-year tenure on July 1, 2022.
Details follow in this press release from the UWI:
The St. Augustine Campus Community is celebrating the achievement of a daughter of the soil and an Honours graduate of their campus. Trinidad and Tobago born Dr Rhonda McEwen has been appointed president and vice-chancellor of Victoria University in the University of Toronto. She will be the 14th president and vice-chancellor of one of Canada’s oldest universities when her 5-year tenure begins on July 1, 2022.
She completed her Bachelor of Science degree, with First Class Honours, in sociology and management at The University of West Indies, St. Augustine (UWI)and went on to obtain an MBA in IT from City, University of London, England; an MSc in Telecommunications from the University of Colorado; and a PhD in Information from University of Toronto.
 “Graduates of The University of the West Indies can be found across the world and at the highest levels in academia and the professions. Dr McEwen’s success at our Campus foretold the great things to come. On behalf of the St. Augustine Campus, I congratulate her on the latest in her many successes”, said Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Brian Copeland.
Dr. McEwen is Canada Research Chair in Tactile Interfaces, Communication and Cognition and a Professor of Emerging Media & Communication. She is currently Vice-Principal Academic and Dean at the University of Toronto Mississauga, and a faculty member at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information, and Technology. Her particular areas of focus are Human-Machine Communication; Cognitive Effects of Media; Tactile Interfaces; Tablet Communication; Cognitive Informatics; Device Mediation; and Virtual Reality. (Source: T&T Guardian, April 12, 2022)

On Christmas Eve 2011, William Edwards died at the San Fernando General Hospital, three days after falling ill. He was 87 years old and had outlived his wife, only child and every sibling. Edwards, who lived alone in his final years, was considered by some as a recluse, so his passing was unknown to many in his village of Brothers, Tabaquite.
Only a small circle of family and friends attended the funeral at Belgroves Crematorium to send him off. But a peculiar thing happened in the weeks following his passing.
As news began trickling through the village that he had died, memories stirred, and “Eddie” was alive again in the mind’s eye of those who remember him.
There he was, leaning out the open window of a locomotive, sounding the steam whistle, calling out to neighbours as his engine pulled the carriages carrying people, pr­oduce and cargo along the train line linking Rio Claro to the rest of the island.
It turns out that Edwards, who found employment as a boilerman at Trinidad Government Railway (TGR) on June 30, 1942, had worked his way up to being an engine driver.
He was in charge of one of the engines that travelled a system extending between Port of Spain and as far as Siparia, Sangre Grande and Princes Town.
By the time his employer made him redundant and sent engine driver Eddie home on October 25, 1966, he was a man with a skill no one needed.
He would later find employ­ment as a wardsman at the same hospital where he would die.
Last train 
For the citizens who used the line between Jerningham Junction and the stops in Longdenville, Todd’s Road, Caparo, Brasso, Tabaquite, Brothers, San Pedro and Rio Claro, Eddie would always be remembered as the man who drove the train to Rio Claro the last day it ever carried passengers—August 30, 1965 (the same day of the celebrated “Last Train to San Fernando” from Port of Spain).
The Express spent several days following the path of the railway out of Rio Claro to discover that two generations after the end of the rail, many still have vivid memories and unresolved complaints.
Some blame the econo­mic and infrastructural decline over the decades on the State’s decision to replace the railway with buses.
People wanted to know why no one had thought to preserve the TGR buildings, signal boxes, road crossings and platforms.
The people of Dades Trace where a TGR building still exists, asked why no one had maintained the impressive homes of the station masters—Coudray, Villa­fana, McAllister, Mit­chell, Superville, McIntosh—who were of significant social standing.
Like clockwork 
Does anyone know how important this rail line was back then, asked villager Lucy Ashby.
She said that back then, it was either the train or having to foot it out of her village of cocoa plantation workers.
Now, the only evidence of its existence, said Ashby, were the concrete and steel bridge crossings too difficult for scrap dealers to steal.
Her sister, Angela Charles, who paid four cents to travel by train into Rio Claro to see Carnival in the ’50s, said she often wondered what would have become of her life if the train, which allowed travel into the capital, had continued operating.
Khairoon Shah, who was 88 years old when we spoke with her, said as a newlywed, she was walking the kilometre or so to Brothers Station as far back as 1942 to catch the train to visit her family in Libertville.
“That engine was loud and you knew it was coming from the long trail of black smoke from the chimney. One headed up to Rio Claro for 9 a.m., passing back at 11 o’clock. Another went up at 2 p.m. and back down at four. And the train was always there on the exact time, bringing people and mail, bread, ice, carrying back cocoa and coffee and sugar cane. So you had to be there or you lose out,” she said.
Shah said on the final day the passenger train rolled, “Edwards was the one who drove it from Jerningham. They gave a free ride and we rode all day and in the night.” 
Her son, Khairoon Shah, said he, too, as a teenager, understood something big and sad was happening that day when the seven cent fare from Brothers Station to Rio Claro was waived.
“They never should have scrapped it. The village felt connected then. When it stopped running, it killed this area,” he said.
Photographic memory 
As a result of a series of fortunate events, one of the most substantial Trinidad Government Railway buildings outside of Port of Spain still exists where the Brothers Station stood.
The family of the ticketmaster remained occupants of the building when the train service ended, and on January 13, 1975, it was acquired by Stephen Subero, himself a lifetime worker with the railway.
The building, likely used by the stationmaster, compri­ses a living area, three bedrooms and a detached kitchen, which prevented the entire house from going up in flames in the event of a fire there. The outhouse is also still there, along with two concrete cisterns to supply the property, locomotive and passengers of the time.
Subero, who raised ten children in that building, recalled when the carria­ges pulled up and villagers came with their bull and donkey-drawn carts to collect the items they had purchased from “town”.
“Let nobody fool you, nothing about the rail was easy. My father (Henry Ayers) had the job of checking the line (all 13 or so kilometres) from here to Rio Claro before 6 a.m. to make sure no big tree fall across. Only when he say so, the train would run,” he said.
Despite a hard life, Subero said he recog­nised early that the building in which he made a life was different. 
“People from all over Trinidad have come here to ask questions about the train and take photographs. I never had photos because back then it was survi­val.
I walked barefoot for the first 36 years of my life. But these people who come here want to learn about the railway. They amazed this place still here. So as long as I am alive, I will take care of it,” he said.
Subero, who can trace his family back to Venezuela, then declared that he was the former bandleader of the Naya Sangeet Orchestra of Brothers Road, and sang for us an Indian classical composition. 
The Express found some of Eddie’s relatives in Plea­santville, San Fernando.
They remembered a proud man with a photographic memory. He was also a stick fighter, cricketer, had a passport but never left Trinidad, and got a driver’s permit but never owned a car.
What he loved most, they said, was telling stories about his time as a railway man and was disappointing that his knowledge and name never became part of the public record.
Now they are. (Source: Daily Express, Feb 16, 2022)
• Note: Richard Charan can be contacted at [email protected].

Dana Reyes and Tyrese Clement have been awarded Fullerton-Long Caribbean scholarships by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) Foundation.
Both are third-year students of the actuarial sciences programme at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science and Technology, at the UWI St Augustine Campus.
The pair were selected from a list of UWI’s most gifted and highest performing actuarial students. They each won scholarships worth US$2,150.
The Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship was set up by UK-based senior actuaries of Jamaican heritage, Andrew Long and Norbert Fullerton. Both are ambassadors of the IFoA Foundation and UWI alumni,
The IFoA Foundation is the dedicated charitable arm of the IFoA. The foundation works with the global actuarial community to meet its philanthropic objectives for positive societal impact.
Earlier this academic year, the foundation took the opportunity to launch a fund supporting the most gifted and highest-performing young actuaries studying at UWI.
IFoA's chair of trustees Kartina Tahir Thomson said, "The IFoA Foundation is delighted to work alongside Norbert and Andrew on the IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Scholarship Award. The scholarship award aims to support Caribbean students in their academic career. Not only would the students benefit financially, they would also benefit from the opportunity the award brings.
"Thanks to the scholarship award, we will have an even more diverse workforce and membership in the actuarial profession. The addition of other supporters’ contributions to the fund going forward will mean that we are able to offer this highly coveted scholarship to even more promising students from the region."
In 2021 the Fullerton-Long Scholarship was initiated for the UWI Mona actuarial programme, offering two awards of USD$2,150 each. This year it has partnered with the IFoA Foundation and secured extra funding to expand the programme to St Augustine.
Stokeley Smart, senior lecturer and co-ordinator of the BSc in actuarial science, said, “The IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship and, in particular, Mr Fullerton and Mr Long, represent the very core of the UWI’s values. These sons of the region and UWI alumni are exemplary global leaders in their field and are eager to give back to UWI and contribute to the development of the region.”
Those eligible for the new IFoA Foundation Fullerton-Long Caribbean Scholarship must be:
Caribbean Community (Caricom) citizens
Students registered at UWI full time for a BSc degree with a major in mathematics or actuarial science
At Level II or III of their studies
Strong academic performance, with a minimum average GPA 3.3 in their previous year’s UWI exams
Strong leadership and teamwork skills
Demonstrable involvement in their local community and an outstanding character
Students committed to joining an actuarial professional body. (Source: Newsday, January 5, 2022)