Stop by 17-year-old Mica (pronounced Meesha) Cunningham's room, and one of the things you will notice is a print out of a piece of property on a wall. And on that print out she has written the words -- future president and CEO Dr. Mica Alexia Cunningham -- Bahamas Children's Hospital. The print out is a daily motivating reminder to the young lady to ensure that she does what she has to do to achieve her goals.
You see, Mica is a dreamer and a planner, but she realizes that in order to achieve, it all begins with a dream, and for the dream to come to fruition, plans have to be made. She has plans to build a children's hospital in the country. By the way, Mica also has a logo and her motto is lending a helping hand. And come January, she will start inroads into making her dream a reality as she commences studies in chemistry at the University of Cincinnati towards her goal of becoming a pediatrician, with an ultimate goal of specializing in developmental behavioral pediatrics.
She wants to work with children with autism and learning disabilities. And considering the dismal national average scores, she wants to do what she can to help raise the national average. "A lot of times people think children are disruptive or rude, but a lot of the times there could be an underlying problem -- they could have some sort of learning disability. They might have autism, and I would like to be able to diagnose and treat them," said Mica.
The young lady with big dreams received a $20,000 per year Merit Scholarship by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to assist her in her first step toward a bachelor's degree. The St. Augustine's College (SAC) graduate is one smart cookie having graduated with highest honors out of a class of 125 students with a 3.83 cumulative grade point average. She also passed all of her Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations -- Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, English, Spanish, Literature and Combined Science -- with A grades. She adds those examination results to five junior external Bahamas Junior Certificate (BJC) exams she sat -- Art, English, Health Science, Social Studies and General Science -- all of which she passed with A grades.
Mica also got a combined score of 1930 on her Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and scored over 600 in both the SAT II Math and Chemistry exams. Importance of education "Education is important to me because I think it's the key to achieving my dream. Ever since I was young, my parents Dwight and Dr. Joanne Cunningham always instilled in me that education is important and that it's the only way to get ahead in life, and so I've always used that as a tool to motivate myself to achieve my goal which is to practice developmental behavioral pediatrics.
And because the importance of education was instilled in me from so young, I worked really hard, always doing my homework and making sure I did the best with my grades and tests and ensuring that my homework was done on time." The daughter of a pediatrician mother and a studio engineer father said she was always curious as to what her mother did, and that her mother would always tell her about things in the medical field and she believed that played a role in her decision to go into medicine as well.
But she said her mother never pushed her into medicine. "I've always loved sciences, and chemistry is my favorite subject. And from I was younger I've always wanted to be a doctor, but I wasn't sure what specialty I wanted to go into and one day I went online and realized that there are actually sub-specialties in pediatrics. And I was just reading under developmental behaviors in pediatrics, and it seemed like something I would like to do because I like to work with children."
From her father who has plans to open his own radio station, she said she gets motivation and determination. "It takes time to build your own business, it takes time for you to do your own thing, and he showed me bravery and that you always have to stick to what you believe in. And that you always have to make sure that your motivation pushes you to your limit and that you don't give up no matter how tough it gets," said Mica.
While most of her peers have commenced their freshmen years at college, Mica has deferred the start of her college education to January -- actually, it wasn't by choice -- timing wasn't on her side. She was awaiting word on her scholarship notification which came a little late for her as classes at the University of Cincinnati had already started. Even though it seemed like a roadblock, she said it was a blessing in disguise.
She's happy to wait until January to begin college. She's currently working at the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) so that she can have pocket money when she gets to college. "I've always been focused and motivated. I'm just starting out on the journey... I've not reached the goal yet." Balancing school and extracurricular activities And she was not just a bookworm. Mica made sure that she was involved in a number of extracurricular activities during her high school years. She participated in basketball and volleyball, and actually wants to continue to play volleyball at the college level. She was also a student council representative for three of her six years at SAC.
Mica also participated in speech and debate competitions and was a member of the school's winning build-a-bridge team. One year she even served in the mentor capacity, charged with teaching her peers how to build a bridge, and the secrets of the winning team that she had been a member of. In the midst of all of this, she also found time to volunteer at the Bahamas National Trust.
And she managed to balance it all she said because of her good time management and organizational skills -- even though she remembers a lot of sleepless nights. "I remember studying so hard, and I remember going to sleep and waking up at 2-3 a.m. to make sure I had studied and that all of my homework was done. I think I was blessed with good time management and good organizational skills because without it I don't think I would have done as good as I did. I was just capable of balancing both academics and extracurricular activities," she said.
And while chemistry was her favorite subject, and she really didn't struggle in any other subjects, she said English and Literature always made her mad, because she had to put extra focus into them. And if she got a B grade she considered that a failure. She always liked to see A grades on her report card. And with two younger siblings, her brother Cori and sister Monika, Mica hopes she's setting a good example for them. Mica on Mica Mica is not short on words for someone her age. She never gives simple yes or no answers.
She always elaborates to ensure that the person she is speaking to understands what she is saying. "I'm not quiet. I'm very outgoing. I make friends very easily. I would be the first person to come up to someone and say hi, how are you doing, my name is Mica and I try kick up a conversation. " And the way her name is spelled and pronounced she has found has always made for a conversation starter.
"A lot of times people tell me my name is spelled wrong, and how does M-I-C-A come out to Mica, like that's not right." And she said her name alone makes her stand out from the crowd. Describing herself as a typical teenager, Mica said she loves to hang out and to read as well, or engage in a game of basketball or volleyball with her siblings. "I'm not just a bookworm. I actually do other things. I'm a cool person to be around. I like to have fun.
I'm actually a normal teenager and I don't just study all the time." That's almost impossible to believe of the young lady who was second runner-up for the title of Bahamas Primary School Student of the Year in 2006 and was awarded a $2,500 scholarship to high school.
And who was second at the Bahamas National Spelling Bee in 2008 and was given the opportunity to travel to the Scripps competition in Washington to watch Robertha Dean-McIntosh represent The Bahamas. But this young lady also knows that credit for her accomplishments should also be given up to a higher power. She said it is crucial for someone who wants to succeed to put God first in everything they do. And that having faith through good and bad times helped her to achieve her goals and to continue to reach for her dreams.
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