CHILL MAGAZINE

Commonwealth Caribbean Rhodes Scholar 2010, Kamal Wood will graduate from the UWI, Cave Hill Campus in October with a BSc. in Computer Science and Mathematics. This year, he will enter Oxford University to pursue an MSc. in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computing. It’s the second time in three years that a UWI Cave Hill student has been awarded this prestigious Rhodes scholarship for postgraduate study at the University of Oxford, following a similar award to fellow Vincentian Luke Browne in 2008.

 

Kamal Wood sat down recently to talk to interviewer Charmaine Joseph, about his achievement.

 

CHILL: This is not the first scholarship that you have won, were you surprised when you got the Rhodes scholarship?

Kamal: I did not think I was an immediate ‘shoe-in’, the other five people who were there were just as qualified as I was and just as deserving so I was definitely surprised.

 

CHILL: For those who know you well, there is always an automatic expectation for you to do well since you have obviously achieved and continue to achieve a lot in a short space of time, do you feel pressured to succeed?

Kamal: Of course there are external elements of pressure. In my younger years it was from my family and as I grew up people who know me had high expectations. However, a lot of the pressure I feel comes from me, I push myself a lot. I feel compelled to succeed.”

 

CHILL: How do you balance the external stress of academia and all the acclamations for your numerous successes and remain so calm and laid back?

Kamal: I try not to let these things get to my head. I do not think that what I have done is that monumental. I always compare myself to other people out there, so I hear of other people who have done so much better than me, so I remain cognizant of the fact that there is so much more that I can do. Intrinsically, I am just not accustomed to caring too much about my appearance. People always need to tell me to cut my hair or iron my clothes. That is just me!

 

CHILL: Therefore, academically, even with a 4.21 GPA, are you still always aspiring to do more?

Kamal: If I get a 95%, I still want to do better, especially if I thought I lost a few marks in a stupid way.

 

CHILL: Let us go back to school – as a child, were you always the ‘good boy’ in school or were you the ‘trouble maker’. Kamal: I was mostly a good boy but I got ‘licks’ sometimes so I guess I wasn’t always that good. I was always at the top of my class and as I got to Grammar School, I came first all the time.

 

CHILL: If you were to sum up your childhood in general, what would you say?

Kamal: I grew up with two brothers and my parents in St Vincent, I never took to sports, my dad tried to get me to play but I never liked it. My father would take us around during summer to see the beaches and play football and cricket. It was not all play though; there was a good emphasis on school. I hated Sunday afternoons because we had to sit down and do school work. Daddy used to tell us to sit down and read the newspaper, and then come and tell him. I guess that is why I am such an avid reader now. I was an inquisitive child. I asked a lot of questions and when my parents got ‘fed up’ of me asking questions, they just bought an encyclopaedia set.

 

CHILL: What is your life mission, or should I say? do you have one?

Kamal: I don’t think I really have a life mission but there are things I would love to do. I would love to have a family. I don’t know exactly what I want to do, I don’t know what I will do in the next few years but I know that I want to make a great contribution to science especially in my area of speciality. I think in terms of my Christianity, I want to develop a more rational approach to faith, like the way people have about evolution. I think in the Caribbean, people have an apprehension applying what they learn in school to their faith and people need to have less fear to face those things.

 

CHILL: People always say that scientists soon become atheists because science is a direct contradiction to the principles of Christianity. How do you balance the knowledge you have learnt in school and keep the standardized version of what faith is supposed to mean?

Kamal: You are right, a lot of scientists are atheists but not all are. There is much of a perceived problem between science and faith. For me, it is not easy, sometimes you just have to not think about certain things. I’m not sure how I balance it, it’s a bit of both. In many ways my faith helps me in my school work, but on the other hand the things I have learnt in school lead me to question the status quo more and in essence lead to a change in the way I think. There is always in choice, you can choose to accept things as they are or change how you think about it.

 

CHILL: Faith is obviously a huge inspiration, but besides that what motivates you?

Kamal: The encouragement of family was very essential when I was younger. Now my motivation is internal, all me, so I like to do things with excellence, I like to have something done well. Even though I am tired I will push myself because I will not settle for less.

 

CHILL: What is the biggest mistake you have made or what is your biggest regret?

Kamal: I wish I was better at sports and art. I mean you cannot do it all but I wish I could have done more of that.

 

CHILL: Besides all the extra-curricular activities, what do you like to do?

Kamal: I like to talk with friends, although I enjoy talking about deep intellectual things … sometimes I enjoy general banter, talking about who is with who, trivial things. I enjoy reading and movies and talking about them after; though I’m sometimes too busy to do that now.

 

CHILL: Your life at UWI is almost over, what will you miss the most?

Kamal: The people, not just my friends but the everyday people on campus and just the general warm environment of UWI. I think I will miss it more when I get to Oxford and I become the minority and realize I am not (part of) the majority there as I am at UWI.

 

CHILL: You were always an active member of the student body, from membership in clubs and societies to just your presence at lectures and Guild meetings. If there is one thing you could change or one message that you could send to the students after you, what would it be?

Kamal: Most definitely student participation in intellectual life. It seems as though when you compare the patronage to ‘fetes’ to anything intellectual outside of class like debates and panel discussions there is a great disparity in the students who attend the two. It seems that a lot of people are here because it is the thing to do, but people are not motivated to succeed. You find the same people in all the groups on campus and the majority just appear not to care.

 

CHILL: Former 19th century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, once said that, “The legacy of heroes is the memory of a great name and the inheritance of a great example.” What will be your example to the Caribbean Region? Kamal: A few things. First, to show a character of integrity and fairness. My struggle is with duplicity, I always try to ensure that I do not say one thing and do another. I want to be an honest person. I want people to see me as I am. I do not want to be someone who pulls people down, I want to help people. Also, I want to promote Caribbean unity and identity. I want to get rid of stereotypes based on nationalities, get rid of friction between governments and encourage persons to play a more active role in government. Finally, as I said previously, I would like to change the way people think of their faith, creating a harmony between science and religion.

 

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