Hitting her mark

Wed, Aug 10th 2011, 11:00 AM

She has a resume that makes her the envy of her peers -- a total of 10 Bahamas General Certificates of Secondary Education examinations (BGCSE) -- nine passed with A grades, one B grade in Spanish "blemishes" her record. She has a grade point average of 3.97 and has been awarded a $180,000 scholarship to attend Kettering University -- and she still has another year in high school.

For Queen's College student, Markia Bowe, life is coming up roses and working out just as she planned it.  The one thing she was certain of was that she wanted to go to college.  The daughter of proud parents, a mechanic [Mark] and a stay-at-home mom [Heather], and one of seven siblings, three older brothers and two older sisters, the teenager will be the first person in her immediate family to attend college and plans to be a neurosurgeon.

If she hadn't been awarded the scholarship that pays for her undergraduate degree, she says the road to her ultimate goal would have been "moderately difficult," but being the driven person that she is, Markia would have made her dream a reality somehow.
"I'm in good academic standing, but financially it would have been a burden," says the 17-year-old who begins her final high school year in September.  "Without a scholarship I can't go to college.  There's just no way my parents can afford that, so that's one of the things that pushed me and encouraged me, because I have big dreams.  I want to go to medical school, and my family is not in the financial position to pay for that, so I knew if I really wanted to achieve my goals and accomplish my dreams I had to work hard, because we're not rich."

Receiving the Kettering scholarship was something she almost missed out on.  As she studied for her final exams and the BGCSEs and put the finishing touches on her coursework, a notice placed on an announcement board about a five-week residential summer program designed to help students of color make a successful transition from high school to college, called Academically Interested Minds (AIM) pre-college summer program was brought to her attention by her homeroom teacher, Georgette Turnquest who encouraged her to apply, telling her she had nothing to lose, did not know what could happen and that she should just do it to see what could happen.

Bowe scrambled to get in her application, transcript, essay and report card in a two-day turnaround.  A week later she found out she was one of 10 finalists from The Bahamas from which one person would be chosen to go into the program.  She impressed representatives from the Rotary Club of East Nassau and Kettering University who flew to The Bahamas to do the interviews and was accepted, even though the Rotary Club of Nassau and Kettering University representatives had been looking for someone who was interested in studying engineering.  She had expressed interest in biochemistry.

Like her teacher had told her, she did not know what could happen.  Now she says getting into the AIM program (July 5- August 6) has changed her life forever.  In the AIM program, students from the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean attend freshman level courses Monday through Thursday in calculus, chemistry, chemistry lab, computer programming, computer lab, economics, physics, physics lab and business management.  During the five-week program, Bowe took classes taught by Kettering University faculty who assigned homework and gave exams.  On Fridays, she and her fellow students engaged in company tours and were able to speak with professional engineers and managers.  At the end of the program, scholarships are awarded to students who rank in the top 15 of the AIM program.

When the final test had been taken, Bowe ranked second which qualified her for half of the full tuition at Kettering for undergrad studies, however, she says an alumnus she had met offered to meet the rest of her scholarship because he wanted her to come to the institution.  "Based on how I had introduced myself to him and displayed myself throughout the program, I ended up receiving the prize that the first place recipient received also," she said.

The 17-year-old attributes the success she's having to the Almighty.  "It was like every move I made and everything that happened to me was God.  It was like He strategically designed it to be that way," said Bowe.  She also admits to having always been passionate and ambitious about her education, and driven to doing well.  Even though she's the sixth of seven children she did not have trailblazing siblings to pattern herself after or to live up to.

"When I set my mind to something I achieved it, so I would say I paved my own path.  My siblings before me were all right, but they weren't like I was.  I was always very self-driven, and no one ever pushed me harder than I pushed myself, so that made a tremendous difference to my work ethic."

The support system from her family and teachers also made a difference to this over-achiever, who says she wouldn't trade her family for anything in the world.  And she is definitely a role model for the baby in the family, her sister Miquie, 15, who is going into tenth grade at Queen's College.

"I encourage her a lot, and I'm her role model, she always tells me that," said Markia of her baby sister who she says is her best friend.  With another year left in high school and all the chips seemingly falling into place, Markia by no stretch of the imagination wants to get complacent.  "I never want to get to the point where I think I've reached my pinnacle and there's nothing more out there for me to achieve.  I know there's a lot of hard work I need to do and I still have so much to aim for, and so many goals I have to reach.  I'm happy, but just not complacent.  I'm not satisfied as yet."

With all of her national exams sat and passed with "flying colors," you'd think Markia would want to relax in her final year of high school, but not so.  Her final year agenda has her taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses in psychology, human geography, and calculus, along with SAT II physics, SAT II chemistry, and SAT II biology.  She hopes to take AP chemistry privately.  Passing an AP subject can earn her college credit and advanced placement, and stand out also in the admission process.  

Exams are scored on a scale of one to five -- with one meaning no recommendation to receive college credit or advanced placement.  A score of two and better is sought after, with a two score meaning possibly qualified, a three meaning qualification, a four being well qualified and a five score being extremely well qualified.

The young lady with 10 BGCSEs -- A grades in physics, chemistry, biology, combined science, literature, language, religion, music, math and history and a B grade in Spanish that really "bugs" her -- wants to score fives on all of her AP exams.

"I want fives [the highest score you can attain] in all my AP courses, and it won't be easy, but I think I can do it and I believe in myself."  Markia who has been elected to serve as head girl in her final year encourages her peers to remain focused through the distractions that abound.  She says they just need to begin with the end in mind.

"Set goals and work hard to achieve them.  Once you set goals, it's harder for you to lose focus and get distracted.  When you set goals for yourself, you know what you're working towards, so when distractions come you might stray away for a little while, but you're able to regain your boundaries and work towards what you set out to work towards.  Secondly, be encouraged and believe in yourself.  I always tell people that nobody believes in Markia more than Markia believes in herself.  Nobody pushes me harder than I push myself, so that's one of the reasons why despite my circumstances, and despite the lack of college education in my family, I believe I can achieve anything.  We don't have the money, but I have faith, and that's one of the reasons why I keep working hard, because I see my future.  I've set goals for myself, and I've begun with the end in mind, so I know what I'm working towards and what I need to get there, so believe in yourself, be encouraged and stay focused."

With mere weeks left to the start of the new school year, Markia wants to leave a lasting impression at her high school as the "greatest head girl" the school has ever seen.  She also wants to encourage her fellow students to hold her story out as to what can be achieved.  She also wants to achieve a grade point average over 4.00 and thinks her AP courses will give her the edge in that category.  She's pretty close at 3.97.

With all of her self-confidence, Markia still considers herself blessed and says none of what she accomplished would have been possible without God on her side, and her strength in Him.
"He's been my support system apart from my family and my teachers and it's been my faith in God that kept me grounded and sane even in times when I thought I would be overwhelmed by all the pressure and the stress that encompass all the success that I now have, so I owe it all to Him."

And for those of you that just may be thinking geek right about now with her nose always stuck in some textbook, Markia says that's far from the truth.  "I am very well-rounded, and not some kind of stuck in my books, and the only thing I do is study kind of girl.  I do so many things.  

I'm president of the Performing Arts Club at my school, vice-president of the Student Representative Council, senior mentor and member of the debating society, I play tennis, I'm in GGYA (Governor General Youth Award), I'm in Yellowbirds, I play sports ... I'm so well-rounded that's one of the reasons I'm so focused, because I don't have time to waste like most people do, because I know what I need to do and I have a certain amount of time to do it, that's why I think I'm so dedicated and passionate."

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