Grenadian Marline Baptiste records a landmark academic achievement at The UWI St Augustine

by Johnson Dion

The University of West Indies St Augustine Campus, Trinidad held one of its graduation ceremonies on Friday, 26 October 2018. That is not news as such because it is an annual event.

What is newsworthy, however, is that those persons that were present at the ceremony are still in awe and talking about the exceptional, enviable and landmark performance of Marline Baptiste, a Grenadian student from Loretto Gouyave, in the parish of St John.

Indeed, those that are applauding Marline’s performance are wholly justified by every measuring academic barometer. Before your imagination runs wild, this is why.

Marline Baptiste graduated with first-class honours in Accounting Special from the University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus.

Marline was also the proud recipient of ACCA & Institute of Chartered Accountant of Trinidad & Tobago (ICATT) award for the “Most Outstanding Student – Accounting Special Graduating Class of 2018.”

Not only that. Marline Baptiste crowned it all with the Deloitte & Touche Trinidad & Tobago award for the “Most Outstanding Student in Accounting 2017/2018” at an “Evening of Excellence” held on 23 October 2018 in honour of students in the faculty that performed exceptionally well.

And of course, a first-class honours award by the Faculty of Social Sciences, of the University of the West Indies was also presented to Marline Baptiste.

All awards came with monetary reward tags attached to them.

Marline’s landmark achievements are indeed a rare feat particularly when analysed against the backdrop of the fact that Marline’s graduating class was composed of not only students from other Caribbean Islands, but also international students.

One can pause for a minute and contextualise the achievement of this academic prodigy from the town that never sleeps in St John. It is not the fact that she graduated with first-class honours in Accounting Special with a solid grade point average; neither is it the fact that she was a proud recipient of a plethora of awards in Trinidad in an Evening of Excellence. But the fact that Marline Baptiste won the award for the MOST OUTSTANDING Graduating Student in Accounting Special, Accounting and Accounting & Finance in the Faculty of Social Sciences, at the St Augustine Campus!

Marline was head and shoulders above her peers, and she received the Deloitte & Touche award as a testament to her academic exploits. Therefore, she is indeed highly deserving of all the accolades and applauds she has received and will continue to come her way in due course.

While an undergraduate student at The UWI, Marline was reputed for obtaining an “A” grade in more than 90% of all the courses she enrolled in. Upon completing her first academic year at UWI, the UWI Authorities granted Marline full tuition, accommodation, books and feeding scholarship throughout her study duration on account of her “excellent” performance.

A humble, unassuming and very reticent young lady, upon completing her studies at UWI, KPMG and Ernst & Young offered Marline employment opportunities in T&T, but she opted to return to the Isle of Spice. She has since been employed by JD Consulting, an established first tier Consulting & Accounting firm at Kirani James Boulevard, St George.

Marline Baptiste is the daughter of Laurie and Theresa Baptiste from Loretto Gouyave in the parish of St John.

Congratulations to Marline on achieving a feat that is being described as one that is difficult to improve upon!