FOR some, life begins on a smooth road, paved with privilege and predictability. For others, like Charmaine Foster, life begins in a storm — but she weathered it.

In 2000, Charmaine Foster started working as the secretary for the Admission Department at Northern Caribbean University (NCU). By 2011, she’d worked her way up to becoming the administrative assistant for the Department of Communication Studies — a position she still holds today.

But Foster is also a part-time lecturer for the College of Business and Management and the Distant Education Centre at NCU, where she continues to shape the lives of her students by inspiring and sharing her knowledge about business communication.

However, her journey had its fair share of potholes as her childhood was anything but easy.

“It was seven of us — six girls and one boy — there was one bed for the girls…we slept head and toe…I didn’t complain, I was satisfied with what my parents could afford,” she said.

Growing up in the rural district of Toll Gate, Clarendon, Foster’s home and school life was fraught with limited resources.

“I had to rotate uniforms [with my sister]…she also had a shoe but the shoe had a hole in the bottom, and you would never know because I would cut out cardboard and put it over it and pray that it doesn’t rain,” she recounted.

At school, while other students boasted trophies and academic awards, Foster was just trying to keep up.

“I remember I had to transition from primary school to all-age [school] because I didn’t get to do the Common Entrance Exam[ination], so I went to all-age school and did the exam that afforded me to go to Vere Technical High School…I left high school with only one subject [shorthand],” Foster said.

However, she clung to a dream to one day get an education and use it to change her life.

“I applied to university…I wanted to go to university because my two sisters — Yolanda and Phillippa — were going, and even though I wasn’t qualified, I still pushed and got accepted to do the one-year clerical [programme], which was better than nothing,” she said.

Having started the one-year clerical programme that would allow her to execute secretarial duties, Foster received encouragement from her lecturers to complete more Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects.

“My teachers, Mrs Mckoy-Hanson and Ms Edel Plummer, encouraged and pushed me to get more subjects…I ended up with five subjects,” she said.

With more subjects came greater opportunities. Foster was able to step up from studying the one-year programme to pursuing an associate’s degree, then her bachelor’s degree.

She recounted that her university life was no easy feat. Her father, the late Dudley Dixon, was her main support as her mother was a dressmaker. However, despite the financial constraints, she didn’t stop at her bachelor’s degree. She went on to pursue a master’s degree as well.

“My siblings, the last three — myself and my other two sisters [Phillipa and Yolanda] — were the only ones to go to university of the seven of us, and I felt good that I was able to start university and I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others, especially students,” she shared.

Her graduate years were also filled with challenges, but she prayed and pushed herself to do better. She graduated in 2008 with her Master’s in Business Administration.

Now, with that master’s degree under her belt and her name etched on multiple certificates, Foster is preparing to graduate again in August 2025 — this time with a Postgraduate Diploma in Education.

But why go back to school?

“I never thought of going back to school but my co-worker, Toni McLean, started the application to do the [Postgraduate Diploma in Education], and when she mentioned it to me, she encouraged me…I decided to try, and if I got through, I got through,” she said.

Today, Foster is not just a graduate, she is a symbol of resilience. A woman who once faced the world with empty pockets and tear-stained cheeks now stands as a role model, shaping future minds as a trained educator.

When asked what keeps her going, Foster’s answer is simple: “God, my husband, and my son.”

— Akeem Orrett