Faith and food sales fund Angel Stephens’ law dreams

By Isanella Patoir 

isanella@newsroom.gy

As an innocent child at three years old, Angel Stephens ate her grandmother’s diabetic tablets mistaking it for candy, and slipped into a coma for one week. As a result, doctors told her mother that she would develop a learning disability and face challenges with her education.

“I struggled all throughout primary school, I was ranking at the bottom of my classes, I was not focusing, I just was not performing normally,” Angel told the News Room during an interview.

For the next decade of her life, this seemed to be true as Angel struggled with learning in primary school. But that didn’t deter her; Angel kept the faith and believed in herself.

Now 23-years-old, Angel surmounted those challenges. She recently graduated from the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad and has been admitted to the local bar as an attorney-at-law.

Angel told the News Room that she didn’t do it alone, though. That arduous journey was made possible with the support of her praying mother Rhonda Gaskin who did all she needed to, including selling food at their church canteen, and other relatives.

“My mother is a praying woman. She did not take the doctors’ report as the final say, she took God’s word as the final say, and she constantly prayed over me,” Angel explained.

Those prayers were tested but didn’t falter.

After writing the National Grade Six Assessment, Angel was placed at the Richard Ishmael Secondary School. There, things began to shift when her grandfather took her in and began teaching her.

“He took me under his wing and basically taught me every single thing,” Angel recalled with a smile.

By the time she reached Fourth Form, Angel’s grandfather encouraged her to write four Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects – Mathematics, English A, English B, and Principles of Accounts. She passed all four.

“At that point, I realised that I am not stupid, that I could actually work if I put my best foot forward, so I did,” she said.

Determined to push further, Angel wrote 12 CSEC subjects in Fifth Form, an unusual move at her school, which only allowed students to write nine subjects.

And so, her mother approached the Ministry of Education to seek permission for her to write the subjects, which was granted.

In 2018, Angel sat those 12 subjects. She not only passed all of her subjects but graduated as the valedictorian of the Richard Ishmael Secondary School.

Her academic success inspired her to give back to her school and she established the Angel Stephens Award of Excellence, which is presented annually to the top business student.

Angel’s journey continued with one year of Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) at The Bishops’ High School before she enrolled in the University of Guyana’s pre-law programme and later into the law programme.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Angel found herself facing new challenges with online learning.

“I persevered, I continued to work hard and at the end of it all I got a GPA of 3.8 and I graduated as the second best student of my class that is in 2023,” a proud Angel told the News Room.

The young woman then set her sights on attaining a scholarship to attend the Hugh Wooding Law School in Trinidad.

Challenges again stood in her way.

“I applied months before, I followed up, I went in person, I asked, I called, I did all that they wanted me to do.

“However, I did not get the scholarship and I was crushed. I was so devastated because I knew that my family could not afford $3 million dollars per year for me to go and study,” Angel said.

Still, her mother refused to give up.

“We walked through the streets of Georgetown to almost every ministry, every business, every law firm. We wrote letters, we called people, we asked for support, anything to get at least the first tuition payment.”

With no support, Angel made the bold decision to travel to Trinidad with just one month’s rent and a little grocery money. She still had no money for her tuition.

“We were basically going on faith,” she said.

Her mother told her that she did not come so far to give up and assured that everything will work out. And so, her mother started selling food at their church’s canteen to raise money for the tuition.

“She would sell things like hotdogs, fudge, pizza and roti and curry.

“She was doing that at every service, so Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays and the money started to add up,” a tearful Angel recalled.

Her mother sent the tuition in small installments every few months. She also received some support from a few of the persons she had initially reached out to. Many times Angel said she was late with payments, but the law school was understanding of her circumstances.

Interestingly, Angel said she had no clue she would become a lawyer. She was actually clueless about what career she wanted to pursue but it was her older sister who suggested law, and Angel decided to pursue it.

Today, she feels like it was all set in stone and looking back now, she is filled with gratitude.

“I feel so happy, so ecstatic. All of the hard work, the sacrifices, the many losses and disappointments, it all paid off in the end,” she said.