This past March, Dr Charles was among a small and select group to win an award for their contributions to Trinidad and Tobago from the Ministry of Youth Development and National Service. At the ceremony, held on March 27 at the Trinidad Hilton, she was honoured as one of ten people recognised as mentors that have played a significant role in youth development. Her category was education.
At first, she did not appreciate the significance.
“When I got the call [informing her of the award] it was business as usual,” she recalls. “I was in a meeting. It went over my head.”
Soon, however, she recognised the accomplishment for what it meant.
“It was significant for me to receive such a national award as a small-island girl from a country I love so much,” she says.
“I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute to youth development and to be recognised by Trinidad and Tobago, a country which adopted me. It touched me in a real way.”
Dr Charles has been a student services professional at UWI St Augustine for 23 years, and the award was an affirmation of her work and that of the entire DSSD. However, it is the profession itself that she finds most fulfilling.
“Recognition is something I don’t ever look for,” she says, “I just do the work. I love the work.”
There is one group though that she takes special pleasure in hearing from - the students themselves. The DSSD director has many stories of students who have approached her to show their appreciation for her impact on their lives, sometimes years after they have graduated.
She recalls one incident, “one of the toughest times” in her career in which she sought to develop processes and transparency in the Guild of Students (DSSD works closely with the Guild, providing guidance and other support). The students were unhappy and the conflict went to the highest office of the campus.
Some five-plus years later, one of the Guild members at the time reached out to her.
“He said to me, ‘Dr Charles, I would just like to tell you thank you’. There was so much they did not know back then, and today in his current role as a leader he understood how much I tried to instil in them,” she says.
“We stayed on the phone for a few minutes well,” she adds, “as he thanked me for not giving up on the student leaders. This made my heart smile.”
