By Lakhram Bhagirat
Words have the uncanny ability to make or break us and quite often, people seem to think less before they utter words. Words are so powerful that once they leave the lips, they can never be taken back.
Words, meant to put him down, were the very thing that ignited a burning desire in the being of 18-year-old Lincoln Antonio Emanuel and today he is doing the very same things that naysayers have said he could not have done.
To understand the accomplishments of Lincoln, one would have to rewind the hands of the proverbial clock and take a trip back to his younger days. They would have to take the journey with him and watch in disbelief as those who were supposed to be his source of strength, put him down in the most dreadful of ways.
Lincoln grew up in the village of Annandale on the East Coast of Demerara with his supportive family. He has always been respectfully rebellious and this impacted his life in more than one way. While a student at the Lusignan Primary School, Lincoln was the student that would always be there to lend a helping hand but he was also the one who would joke the most in class.
He had a knack for making his classmates laugh and he honed in on that. Whether it was through his amazing dancing skills, his melodious voice or his ability to deliver massive punchlines at the right time, Lincoln was doing it as long as it made people happy. He continued much to the annoyance and amazement of his teachers and those around him.
When he sat the Common Entrance Examinations, Lincoln got a rude awakening after he barely managed to scrape some marks. He knew he had the ability to push and achieve much greater things but all he was hearing was how he would never able to accomplish those things.
“When I wrote Common Entrance and I saw that I got Annandale Primary [Top] I was very sad. I knew that I could have done better. I had some friends who got lower marks than me but they got better schools like LBI [La Bonne Intention Secondary] and I was just very devastated. I felt bad and the fact that I was being called a failure made me feel worse,” he remembers.
“My parents knew that I could do so much better and they keep pushing me. After Common Entrance they decided to send me to IBE [Institute of Business Education] and when I got there, I knew that I needed to put in the work to show people what I can do. I wanted to be able to do better in life.”
When he joined classes at IBE, Lincoln was placed in the remedial class because of his low Common Entrance score. Being in the remedial class, headed by Miss Rafeena Omar, meant that more focus was placed on reading, writing and math. These were the areas in which Lincoln needed help and he was more than glad to accept that help.
The teachers at IBE ensured that Lincoln and those other students who were defeated by the Common Entrance system never felt like they did not belong. Their morals were boosted with celebrations for their every little achievement.
However, in Lincoln’s life, there were still people who kept telling him he can never succeed. Forming part of that long list was a teacher from his primary school and numerous relatives and friends. They felt it was a waste of money for his parents to be sending him to a private learning institution.
“When I was in Form One, I was walking home and I saw one of my primary school teacher. She watched me and she said ‘what is your mother sending [you to] private school for? She sending you to waste her money?’ That afternoon I felt really bad but I did not allow her words to bring me down. I took her words and turn it into a form of encouragement.
“She said that I was wasting my parents’ money but I said to myself that now I am going to show you that I am not wasting my parents’ money. Then they have some friends and family who said I would never make it and it makes no sense that I [go] to a private school and so.”
After those heartbreaking words, meant to break his spirit, were uttered to Lincoln by someone who should have known better to encourage rather than discourage, he knew that his mission was to prove them wrong.
His teacher, Miss Omar, would take him under her wings because she saw his drive and determination to better himself and she worked on that. After he left her class then came along Sir Jamain Hatton, who served as a further motivator for Lincoln.
Nevertheless, Lincoln was still doing the things he enjoyed doing and was the full-time comedian. In addition, he was the school’s best dancer, he was part of the choir, and was readily available for any other duties as required. Teachers admired not only his talents but his drive to push his limits. They nurtured that and when they saw him straying they were the first to bring him back in line.
Along the way, Lincoln lost friends because he was no longer solely interested in playing around, rather he was hitting the books harder than usual. He began surrounding himself with those who were doing the same as he was and also encouraged others to join in and the sacrifices paid off when he was the only male student in his Fourth Form class to be a part of the top 10. That was the reassurance he needed to know that he was treading the right path.
“I didn’t have anyone to help me but I studied when I was at home. For CXC, when I was home I would study and then wake up early in the morning and study more. At school, we had our teachers working with us and things got hard, I had to keep the faith. I would keep pushing myself and keep telling myself that I will make it because I have to. I had a purpose and a goal.”
Lincoln sat 10 subjects at the 2019 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and attained Grade Two passes in 7 of those subjects and Grade Three passes in three subjects.
“I am extremely proud of myself because the hard work has paid off. My father is not home as yet because he works at sea but my mother is extremely happy because of my improvement. From nothing to something, I have something that no one else thought that I could have done,” the aspiring doctor said.
For now, his next step is attending the University of Guyana, where he will be pursuing his medical studies.
“In life, people will try to make you feel down but when people try to make you feel down instead of making their words your pillow, take their words and make it your inspiration. Do not allow people to speak into your life, take the words and make it into your goals and do more than what they say you can do,” he advised.
