By Lakhram Bhagirat
Someone once said that we must never underestimate the pain of a person because everyone is fighting some form of internal battle. It may be the biggest mistake to judge someone just because they seem like they have their life together and they are happy, since some people are well skilled in hiding their emotions.
For Juniour Anthony Blair, he knows what it is to suppress his emotions. He knows what it is to be at your breaking point after all has failed. He even knows what it is to attempt to take your own life after you feel that your world is falling apart. But, perhaps most importantly, he knows how to pick himself up and use his talents for a better purpose.
Blair has always had the knack for helping people out and making sure that they are comfortable; though he never saw it, he was destined for the field of social work. At a young age, Blair attempted suicide because he felt ashamed and lost.
While a Fifth Form student at the Skeldon High School, Blair had big plans for his life. His paternal grandmother was in the process of sponsoring his father so that the family could move to the United States to live. Armed with the prospects of migrating before CSEC, Blair made no preparations for the exams, but life had other plans for him. In the blink of an eye, his grandmother passed away causing his life plans to come to a halt.
“So I didn’t get to write CSEC because I was guaranteed that I would have left before the exam period. About a year and a half later, I became depressed after my grandmother had passed away during the course of the sponsorship and me not taking the opportunity to sit my CSEC. I became so depressed that I started to isolate myself from my former classmates because of feeling disappointed and somewhat shamed. I once tried to commit suicide because of how I felt at that time,” Blair said.
However, he got the help he needed and started to pick his life back up. He went on to the Critchlow Labour College and the Business Academy in Corriverton, Berbice to pursue his CSEC qualifications. After gaining his CSEC passes, Blair continued the quest for further knowledge, which took him to the University of Guyana, Berbice Campus, where he is a final-year Social Work Degree student. He has also since acquired a Diploma in Public Management from UG.
“Social work helps me to be a rounded person in the sense that it provides me with privileged opportunities that help shape my personality and test my capabilities as a person. As such, it does not offer many monetary rewards, but it creates a lifetime of memories. I am privileged to be given the opportunities to make a difference in someone’s life and mine as well,” he explained.
Backtracking to his childhood, the 31-year-old said at the age of 12 he joined the Skeldon Estate Community Centre Cricket Club as an Under-15 player. He went on to play for Berbice at the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 levels with the likes of Veerasammy Permaul, Richard Ramdeen, Gajanand Singh, Maxwell Georgeson, Steven Latcha, and Brandon Best.
Many thought that he would pursue a career in cricket, but to their surprise, he found his calling and it was social work. Through his many struggles and the constant teasing about his choice of profession, he has persevered.
“The field of social work is most times perceived to be less important to many other persons who are not directly involved and those who for some reason are naïve about the importance of the role of social work and its relative functions. I remember when I first started UGBC I was mocked by other males for choosing social work, because to them it was a soft course or in their words ‘the weakest course the University offers and only females should do the course because it’s not a masculine field’.
“I paid them no mind, because I know for a fact that social work can be applied to any job field given the two common components, which are a human resource and the organisational system which deals with policies and practice. These two components are key to effective service delivery hence the need for social work. I can say confidently that social work is one of the toughest courses being offered at UG because it makes or breaks any individual regardless of gender, ethnicity, age or status and I am proud to be a social worker.”
Blair is in the field of social work to gain knowledge and secure the future of the youths. He notes that now with his training and knowledge, he is better equipped to serve the needs of his community and further afield.
“The field of social work is a real soul-searching experience and it provides opportunities to make a real impact in the life of others as well as in your own life. Let’s break the gender barrier attached to the field of social work. We welcome more males on board.”
