Marissa Victoria Foster, a social worker, entrepreneur and columnist attached to the Guyana Chronicle, hailing from the ancient county of Berbice has copped the prestigious Chevening scholarship. As a youth advocate, Foster has led and participated in impactful projects such as the Student Relief Project at the University of Guyana, Youth Development and Technology and InvestHER.
She is the co-founder of EmpoweredFem. She was also a member of the University of Guyana Tain Campus student society. Her leadership roles earned her the 25 Influential Women’s Award (2022), and the 30 Under 30 Ignite Caribbean Changemakers Award (2023). She is also a member of the RoseHall Town Youth and Sports Club.
Marissa’s academic journey began at the Port Mourant primary school where she graduated as the valedictorian, then the New Amsterdam Multilateral School/New Amsterdam Secondary School (NAMS), joining the Arts and Humanities stream, as she wanted to become a lawyer.
She later changed her career path, and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in social work at the University of Guyana Tain Campus, graduating with a 4.0 GPA and copping the Council of the University Prize in 2021.
After high school, Marissa became an entrepreneur as she started a small business, doing make up artistry and face painting, she later expanded and began selling makeup products. In 2018, at age 17, she became the youngest columnist at the Guyana Chronicle, where she has been writing under the column Youth Perspectives for the past 7+ years.
After graduating from the University of Guyana, Foster gained employment as a probation and social security officer at the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security dealing with pension, public assistance and vulnerable clients.
Inspired by the Chevening alumni talk, Marissa applied for the prestigious Chevening scholarship twice, however she was unable to secure it, however on her 2nd attempt, she copped the scholarship and will be pursuing a master’s degree in Peace, Resilience and Social Justice, in the UK at the University of Bradford, renowned for its world-first and most recognised peace studies department.
Marissa said, “We collaborated to get this for students in Berbice and as I was listening to the alumni talk, I was listening to their stories, their experiences, and I said to myself, this is wonderful, I want to be like them one day after I finish my undergrad.”
Further she added, “The experiences that they said they had, it was really great. And then on top of that, all of them came back to Guyana and then they had really great titles, and they ensured that they served their communities in various ways. And I said to myself, this is for me. So from 2020 to now, I’ve been working to keep my GPA up so that I can get into UK schools, working on my essays and so forth, since then.”
Foster mentioned that many of the Guyanese Chevening alumni vetted her essay and gave her guidance. She said, “They were very instrumental in helping me, either by proofreading my essay or by providing advice and tips that they used to get there.”
“What kept me motivated was the fact that if you don’t give it a try, you’ll never know. Every time I put myself forward, I remind myself, ‘It doesn’t hurt to try.’ The application process was free, so I just sent in my application and essays, hoped for the best, and got through to the interview. Here I am today because of that. What also motivated me was knowing I did my best—I worked very hard on those essays and made sure I did as much research as I could,” she said.
Marissa’s support system also keeps her motivated as her family, and friends are very supportive.
For Marissa, the challenges of the initial rejection from her first application, made her kind of sad, under the weather because she worked very hard on those essays, and then the interview. However after reflecting, she found out that she made some mistakes in the interview.
Based on that, she corrected those mistakes and eventually got the scholarship. Another challenge would be being away from her family, and my friends for a year.
Foster stated that being a Chevening scholar, means that she has an opportunity of a lifetime to network with other people from across the world, go to a country that is known for world-class education and get that education free of cost and to come back home in my community and to basically serve my community and/or country, to the best of my abilities using this world-class knowledge and education. It also means that I have proven to the British government and to those panelists, um, that I am capable of being a leader in Guyana. As you know, Chevening, they’re looking for leaders in countries or upcoming leaders. And so this is my motivation to push forward and continue doing what I do.
“When I received the news … I was on vacation away from Guyana, by my cousin’s and I saw the notification, an email came in and all I saw was, “Chevening” and “Congratulations.” Two words. And I did not read the email and I screamed and I shouted for my cousin and she thought something was wrong. And I said, “Look at the phone.” And she was shaking ’cause she, she was like, “What’s wrong?” ‘Cause all she saw was my facial expression of being surprised. After which, she read it and then we both cried and I literally burst into tears because I did not expect that response. I was very confident in myself, but I didn’t have high expectations. And then I called my parents and other relatives and friends and gave them the news,” Marissa mentioned.
“I would say to young Guyanese who want to study abroad, don’t be discouraged by anybody. People will say to you, ‘Moving abroad isn’t easy,’ and they’ll try to convince you to just stay in Guyana and do what you have to do. But I would say don’t be discouraged, because if you want more exposure, if you want more opportunities, if you want broader perspectives on what’s happening outside of Guyana, then go and study abroad.
I’ve been in many networking circles, I’ve studied at UG, I’ve participated in youth empowerment spaces, and I think I’ve already experienced most of what is being offered here. But I want to push myself further, and I want to see what else is outside the doors of Guyana. That’s why I’m going,” is Marissa’s advice to youths.
Marissa has been very vocal about being someone from Berbice who achieved this, because she want other Berbicians to apply for this scholarship. This year, only two Berbicians copped this scholarship.
Marissa highlighted, “often people from Berbice don’t apply because they feel intimidated by the urban crowd and their accolades. But I want to tell Berbice leaders and scholars—you are just as deserving as anyone else. The deadline is October 7th, and if I hadn’t applied, I wouldn’t be here speaking to you today. All it takes is that first step.”
Marissa’s degree teaches the intersection of peace and social justice. This shows that when people are unheard, when their voices aren’t respected and their rights aren’t recognized, conflict will arise in communities. What this course will teach me is how to help resolve those conflicts.
“I want to learn peaceful strategies, methods, and responses that I can bring back home to Guyana. As a social worker, I want to apply those skills within communities here to promote peace and strengthen relationships,” she added.
