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Imagine not knowing where your next meal was going to come from or getting accepted to pursue the career of your dreams, but not knowing how to fund it. These are some of the challenges that Raymond Roberts had to endure on this journey. Notwithstanding these challenges, he succeeded: in fact, some may say he thrived. For this Laventille-born and bred Attorney, his success was possible by overcoming adversity and relying on the kindness of others. He tells MENtions that “despite your present circumstances and how people may perceive you because of your background, you must demand that your destiny be filled with your version of success.”

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If I am to look back, I would see a child who was so hungry that he had to take bread from the store to ensure that his sick mother and brother could survive. I would see a young man who grew up in Laventille, surrounded by friendly neighbours who taught him kindness in a cup of wheat porridge. I would see a young boy who also had to learn to bear the fact that the blood-stained streets on mornings sometimes meant that a familiar face would no longer be seen.

I embrace my past and I am grateful for every experience that I have had. My path to success was paved by seemingly insurmountable adversity, overshadowed by the generosity of strangers who became like family. Not to mention the constant prayers of my mother.

HELP came along

I started my legal studies without knowing exactly how I would fund the programme. However, in that same year, the Government introduced the Higher Education Loan Programme (HELP) initiative and so, my journey began. I balanced school life by engaging in all the activities at the multi-cultural UWI Cave Hill campus. In my spare time, I also worked with the UWI HIV/AIDS Response Programme and even to this day, every good friend of mine would tell you that he/she would have received a lecture on responsible sexual health practices at some point…much to their annoyance of course.

People’s perceptions

On taking my first job after law school, I remember a classmate of mine who had also landed the same job, saying to me “Aren’t you surprised that you got through? With all the background checks that are conducted. Aren’t your surprised?” Stunned by the question, I chose to smile politely and walk away. The universe however had a better way of dealing with him, as it was later announced that I had topped the interviews. A great lesson in not fuelling negativity by responding in like manner.

Teaching as a motivation tool

As much as I love being an attorney-at-law and judicial officer, I feel most alive when I am lecturing. Currently, I am an Associate Tutor at the Sir Hugh Wooding Law School, where I have been since 2016. In the previous years, I also lectured at the Academy of Tertiary Studies, University of the West Indies Open Campus and at College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts of Trinidad and Tobago.

As a teacher, I am a hard taskmaster but only because I don’t want my students to know the bitter taste of failure that I myself had to endure when I failed a course at university. But, as I learned, failure or setbacks aren’t necessarily bad because in each tear, there is a lesson. In our perceived failure we discover our true strength of character, integrity and resilience.

Demand your destiny

In the spirit of paying it forward, I have worked with organisations such as The Heroes Foundation and other NGOs because I want young men to know that despite your present circumstances and how people may perceive you because of your background, you must demand that your destiny be filled with your version of success. You must always strive to be a better version of yourself than you were yesterday.

Raymond A. Roberts, was admitted to the Bar of Trinidad and Tobago in 2010 after obtaining the LL.B (Hons) from The UWI Cave Hill (2008) and the Legal Education Certificate from the Sir Hugh Wooding Law School (2010). He is also the holder of a Master of Law degree in Corporate and Commercial Law from The UWI Cave Hill (2016). He is a judicial officer at our country’s Supreme Court.