{"id":923,"date":"2021-05-14T06:14:31","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T06:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/?p=923"},"modified":"2021-05-14T06:14:31","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T06:14:31","slug":"leading-the-way-xuxa-garroden-calls-on-classmates-to-make-an-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/leading-the-way-xuxa-garroden-calls-on-classmates-to-make-an-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading the Way – Xuxa Garroden Calls on Classmates to Make an Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cWe can be the impact!\u201d This is Xuxa Garroden\u2019s charge. Her calling to serve others came at a young age. Long before planning her own career and enrolling at the University of the Virgin Islands, Xuxa was driven to serve.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While growing up in St. Kitts, Xuxa recognized that many people didn\u2019t have access to the healthcare they needed. She was especially moved by a neighbor who became a quadriplegic as a teenager after a diving accident. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cI raised funds for him to obtain a medical visa to travel for specialized care,\u201d she recalled. Despite her efforts, however, she soon realized off-island healthcare would be unaffordable. That problem sparked Xuxa\u2019s mission to position herself to help people. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUVI\u2019s plethora of programs and academic counseling continues to create a platform for Caribbean students to attain a higher education in an affordable, familiar environment.\u202fI would encourage others to enroll.\u00a0It\u2019s a small door with many experiences.\u201d\u202f<\/span>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>Xuxa\u00a0Garroden<\/span><\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This May, Xuxa will earn a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and plans to enroll in medical school at St. George University in Grenada in the Fall. Reflecting on her time at UVI, she said, \u201cBeing mentored by my UVI advisor Dr. Yakini Brandy helped me to gain tenacity and stir discipline. She encouraged me to persevere and reminded me \u2018you have what it takes\u2019.\u201d Xuxa also highly credits her success to her aunts and uncles in St. Thomas as well as her family and mentors in St. Kitts for their unwavering support throughout her journey.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a chemistry major preparing for a future in medicine, Xuxa was very committed to her studies. She moved on campus during her junior year for an easier commute to her classes and her on-campus job as a tutor at the Center for Student Success. She took advantage of opportunities for summer programs at UVI, including participating in research with Dr. Stanley Latesky, chair of UVI\u2019s Chemistry and Physical Sciences Department. \u201cBeing able to do research every summer was the catapult for being academically well rounded in my view,\u201d said Xuxa.\u202f\u201cIt helped broaden my scope of critical thinking and reasoning through independent and group research.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Xuxa also participated in an exchange program at the University of Michigan in her sophomore year. \u201cIt was truly a memorable experience,\u201d she said, recounting the time her anatomy professor took her and a group of students on an overnight camping trip in the snow in Northern Michigan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Xuxa equates her experience at UVI with opportunity.\u202f\u201cUVI\u2019s plethora of programs and academic counseling continues to create a platform for Caribbean students to attain a higher education in an affordable, familiar environment,\u201d she said.\u202f\u201cI would encourage others to enroll. It\u2019s a small door with many experiences.\u201d\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prepared for the\u202fchallenges of\u202fthe world,\u202fXuxa\u202furges her peers,\u202f\u201cAlthough the degree belongs to us, our mandate now is to contribute and serve others.\u201d\u202fAnd\u202fthat is exactly what she intends to continue doing.\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xuxa\u202fis\u202factive in her community and\u202ffounded a charity\u202fknown as\u202f\u201cWe Drive Foundation\u201d in 2015. For\u202fher efforts,\u202fshe\u202freceived\u202fthe\u202fQueens Young Leader Award St.\u202fKitts and Nevis for Community Involvement by the Queen Elizabeth Trust\u202fin\u202f2017.\u202fShe was\u202falso named an\u202fAssociate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth\u202fSociety\u202fin 2018\u202ffor her\u202fwork to improve the lives of Commonwealth citizens.\u202f\u202f <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Xuxa earned an associates degree in general studies at the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College in St. Kitts, and worked to save money to continue her education abroad. \u201cMy quest to aquire higher education came from my love for my country and the desire to do more for people unable to attain that because of barriers of language and poverty,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

She was granted a scholarship to begin her studies at UVI in January 2018 and received another from Sandy Point Benevolent Society later than year. Xuxa was chosen to be the Class Speaker at this year\u2019s Virtual Commencement Ceremony. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe can be the impact!\u201d This is Xuxa Garroden\u2019s charge. Her calling to serve others came at a young age. Long before planning her own career and enrolling at the University of the Virgin Islands, Xuxa was driven to serve.    While growing up in St. Kitts, Xuxa recognized that many people didn\u2019t have access to the healthcare they needed. She was especially moved by a neighbor who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":948,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.uvi.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}