Witnessing the state some people live in drove Kobe Forbes to want to make a change to help. He knew that the only way to do it was to become successful. That "fueled" his drive to stay committed to his academic studies.
"After being around Kemp Road - because that's where my grandmother lived, while I was growing up - really opened my eyes to the hardships and pain that many Bahamians went through each day. After witnessing the state of some people's living, I wanted to make a change to help my people, but I knew that the only way to do it was to become successful, which is where I found the fuel I needed to stay committed to my work."
Forbes, 18, the 2022 All Bahamas Merit Scholar (ABMS) runner-up with a $100,000 award, is matriculating at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University with an engineering physics declared major.
He said being ABMS runner-up means a lot to him.
"To work so hard juggling my schoolwork along with my extracurricular activities and being awarded the ABMS runner-up award was satisfying to realize that my hard work was recognized and honored. By earning the All-Bahamas Merit runner-up award, I am nearly attending college cost-free, which is uplifting to know that I did that for myself."
With his scholarship award, he has to come up with a little over $5,000 annually, out of pocket.
But he is appreciative of the award even though did not learn about the All-Bahamas Merit Scholarship until his senior year in high school after he learned that fellow schoolmate Maya Tilberg, the 2021 awardee, had won it.
He went the route of science because of his mathematical skill and "disdain" for English language which he said had everyone telling him he had to be a scientist.
Forbes chose engineering physics as his major because of his curiosity about how planes flew, boats sailed without sinking, and how the remote control worked. Then, there was the fascination he developed with climate change and how scientists were racing to find suitable sources of clean energy to power the world instead of fossil fuels.
"I went into my physics class one day, and we embarked on the study of nuclear power and how it could be a clean source of energy that can power the world. It was the accumulation of all these events spiraling through my mind that led me to realize that physics had to be my major."
Forbes has plans to pursue a master's degree in nuclear physics/engineering to be able to work at facilities where they are trying to harness nuclear power. His long-term goal is to become a nuclear engineer.
"I hope to work on harnessing nuclear energy as a sustainable source of clean energy, so we can progress from fossil fuels which are killing our planet. By finding cleaner sources of energy, I can prevent the Earth from global warming which means I can stop the polar ice caps from melting and increasing the sea levels which threaten to submerge our Bahamian islands, and I can also help reduce the creation of more detrimental storms and hurricanes that demolish our country. Eventually, I would like to help remodify the energy system in The Bahamas, so we can harness more solar energy for power to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels."
The son of Tanya Hanna and Kermit Forbes has big dreams.
Forbes graduated St. Augustine's College (SAC) in 2022 with a 4.00 grade point average; scored 1,430 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test; and passed nine Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education examinations – mathematics, English language, accounts, office procedures, Spanish, physics, chemistry, English literature, and religious studies – with A grades.
"I never really had a role model when it came to my academics. My parents and my sister helped me with certain problems the best they could, but I had to do most of my work by myself."
He said he watched his parents work tirelessly daily which motivated him to do the same with his academics. Forbes said he wants to be like them and make them proud.
But he also believes that education is outside the four walls of a classroom.
"I believe that education is life," he said.
"The goal of life is to learn to grow and become a successful human being. From the moment of birth, and sometimes even before that, humans start to learn because it is our innate attribute. Education is derived from the Latin word 'educere' which means to 'lead out'. Through education, we discover our latent talents. We hone those talents, and we display those talents. We think that in order to be educated, you need to go to school, but that is wrong. School is an institution designed to educate people in certain disciplines but education occurs everywhere - inside and outside of school. Education is simply learning, and we learn to grow and live, which is why I believe that education is life."
In his first semester, Forbes said he found the learning curve steeper than in high school. He found that he had only about a week in college on a topic that would have taken him maybe three weeks to a month in high school. It was a challenge he had to overcome.
"My first month of college was overbearing, and it felt like no matter how much I climbed my mountain of work, I could not overcome it, so I realized that I had to modify my climbing tools to suit this new environment that I was in."
Forbes said he initially spent a lot of hours in the library reading notes and trying to "decode" them. He took advantage of office hours during which his professors helped him comprehend topics that he found challenging.
"Most importantly, I just had to learn to prioritize things in order to organize myself. I had to understand that I had to stay up for a couple more hours than I usually do. I had to exchange shows that I would watch during my eating times for YouTube videos that would aid me in my study, and I just had to stay home on certain nights when my friends went partying."
He said trying to find the balance between work and fun was definitely challenging, but that once he found it, the first semester went well.
Forbes' advice to his peers who are preparing for college is to be "open-minded".
"When I started looking at colleges, everything to me was about statistics. I was looking at the US News ranking of colleges, the schools' graduation rate, and their acceptance rates. While all of these are good, they are not the only factors for choosing the right school. No college is the 'perfect' college, but there are many colleges that can be the right college."
Forbes' suggestion to his peers is to sit down with an advisor and be honest about their aspirations, financial status and academic scores. From there he said they could find an affordable school that has their major of preference and one that can also offer a decent scholarship for their grades. He said sometimes, it can be the college a person overlooks that can be best suited for them.
His advice to his peers is to also look for a college that gives them more than what they are looking for.
"Do not just pick a college that offers you your major and nothing else. Choose a college that can train you in multiple disciplines outside of your major to make you academically versatile. Choose a college that offers you real-world exposure and experience, so that when you graduate from school, you are already or nearly adapted to the 'real world'. Choose a college that forces you to surpass your limits and realize your abilities. And choose a college that develops your critical thinking, so you are not just 'book smart'."
While at SAC, Forbes was a member of the school's 2021 and 2022 national speech and debate championship team. He was valedictorian of the 2022 Alpha Phi Alpha Honors Ceremony. He was awarded with the Bahamas Association of Independent Secondary Schools (BAISS) head boy award for the school. He was the student council president for the 2021-2022 academic year. He was awarded the Benedictine Student Leader award at graduation. And he received subject awards in physics, chemistry, AP mathematics, AP English language, English literature, Spanish, and accounting.
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