As students across Trinidad and Tobago reflect on their 2026 CXC results, one woman is sharing her remarkable journey from being expelled from secondary school in Form Two to completing university and building a career dedicated to helping others.
In a deeply personal account shared during CXC results season, the social worker and law enforcement educator revealed that she was expelled from school while still in Form Two, at a time when she believed the decision could have brought her formal education to an abrupt end.
She recalled that around 2004 and 2005, being expelled carried serious consequences, with limited opportunities to simply transfer into another government school. Her family’s financial circumstances also meant that private or paid education was not a realistic alternative.
However, behind the behavioural problems that eventually contributed to her expulsion was a difficult childhood.
She said she grew up in a household affected by varying incidents of domestic violence and carried experiences that, as a child, she did not yet have the emotional maturity or vocabulary to understand.
That pain, she explained, manifested itself through her behaviour at school.
“I struggled A LOT. I acted out, and eventually, I was expelled,” she recalled.
Her mother, who she said died three years ago, refused to allow the expulsion to become the final chapter of her daughter’s education.
According to her account, her mother pleaded and searched for another opportunity for her to attend school. As their options appeared to be disappearing, a dean who recognised her potential advocated for her to receive another chance.
She was eventually admitted to another institution, which she described as a “Junior Sec,” noting the stigma that was often associated with such schools at the time.
The transition did not immediately make life easier.
She said she experienced bullying at her new school while the difficult circumstances at home continued. Nevertheless, having someone recognise her potential helped change the way she viewed her future.
“Someone gave me a reason to believe that my story could be different. So I kept going!” she said.
She eventually completed secondary school, sat CXC examinations, pursued A-Levels and later attended university.
Years after facing the possibility that her education could end in Form Two, she is now a social worker and law enforcement educator whose professional life centres on helping, empowering, educating and developing others.
Reflecting on how dramatically her circumstances changed, she said the young girl who was expelled from school would probably never have imagined the life she would eventually build.
“The child who was expelled became the woman who helps others find their way,” she said.
Her story was shared against the backdrop of CXC results season, when thousands of young people are celebrating academic achievements while others may be struggling with disappointment over results that did not meet their expectations.
She directed her message particularly towards students who have been labelled because of their behaviour, suspended or expelled from school, as well as those who may believe poor examination results have permanently damaged their futures.
She stressed that academic achievement is not the only route forward, pointing to both academic and technical pursuits as possible pathways through which young people can discover their abilities and build successful lives.
Her experience also highlights the potential importance of adults looking beyond a child’s behaviour to understand the circumstances that may be contributing to it.
In her case, the intervention of her mother and a school official who continued to believe in her potential provided another opportunity at a critical point in her life.
Now, more than two decades later, she is using that experience to encourage young people facing their own setbacks not to regard failure, disciplinary problems or disappointing examination results as the end of their stories.
“Whether it’s Academical or Technical pursuits, there is still GREATNESS inside of you!! Your life has PURPOSE!!” she wrote.
Her message ultimately came down to the second chance she received when her future appeared uncertain.
“Someone believed there was more to my story,” she said. “AND THEY WERE RIGHT!”
