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Dr. Clarke said he was immensely impressed with Dowding’s performance and is hoping that his honouring of the young man would serve as a means of motivating young people to pursue excellence and to ignite a sense of commitment by responsible adults to invest in the academic development of our youths.
Dr Clarke’s nephew, Pastor Exton Clarke, President of the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventists made the donation on behalf of his uncle to Dowding recently.
Meanwhile, Dowding has affirmed that his faith in God was the driving and determining factor in his success. But he also praised his parents, teachers and church family for also playing crucial roles in his achievements.
An aspiring marine biologist, Dowding spoke about his study habits, noting that he implemented creative methods to maximise learning. “My study habit was one that ensured that I was enjoying the studying period and was having fun while doing so – whether it included me changing my voice and accent to relate to a particular history topic in a Caribbean country; impersonating the actions of careers in the agricultural or science fields or even to pacing up and down my home to ensure that I was truly absorbing the content I was reading,” the young man said. He added: “Mainly, my studies would start around 9 pm and end at 6:30 am. Studying in vehicles was very rare. I would have headaches when a did such. Apart from studying, co-curricular activities were a must whenever they presented themselves.”
Parental support
On the issue of parental support, Dowding said this was of extremely important. “My parents are my first teachers so they have always been there for me. They would have encouraged me and were there in all that I decided to pursue especially my mom. I don’t know how she does it but she inspires me. They were prepared to go pay for the many subjects I wrote which would have amounted to a little over $200, 000. But thank God CSEC took off some of the fees due to the ramifications of the pandemic on the education sector and so I only had to pay one-third of the price. Additionally, I count it as a blessing that my mom had retired a good time before my exams when I was attending lessons so she was there to take me home late at nights.”
Weeks before his first examination, Dowding’s grandfather passed away- a loss which took a toll on him. He had told reporters that despite his sadness, he kept his focus, which he admitted was not an easy task. “I grew up in the Seventh-Day Adventist Church all my life. They would have helped mold my character, and make me who I am today as a person. I have learned many lessons from them. Also, they are a very supportive group of persons; they prayed for me, wished me on.
For his success, Dowding has received many accolades and the Guyana Conference of Seventh-day Adventist recently honoured him. At the celebration, Pastor Clarke, highlighted the significance of modeling excellence, especially in academia. He expressed pride and commendations to Dowding on behalf of the 65,000 plus members of the local church scattered across the 10 administrative regions of Guyana. Dowding has spoken previously about his passion for working with animals and hopes to secure a scholarship, which will afford him the opportunity to pursue a tertiary education, and secure his dream job as a marine biologist.