Hopes that students will return well equipped to add to successful young people who already returned
The Prime Minister of St. Maarten the Honorable Sarah Wescot-Williams wished the more than eighty students who left for the Netherlands to pursue their studies on Sunday an excellent and successful journey and much success during their studies. “It is always heartening to see young students going abroad to stand on their own feet and pursue an education.
I hope that they will be able to keep focused and realize that we as Government and their friends and family in general are their to offer our assistance,” commented the Prime Minister, who for many years used to be commissioner of Education for the Island Territory of St. Maarten.
The Prime Minister also made comments regarding the parents of the students, who are also in their own way making a significant step in their lives; “It is always a big step in the lives of the students and indeed of their parents and family when the children have to leave the shores of St Maarten to go away and study. Some of the students that go away leave quite young so it is with a sense of some trepidation that parents see them go. One of the few things that we can do is to talk to them and wish them the best and to support them as much as we can while they are abroad. It is a fact that once they are there they are often called on to make choices of their own in their studies and in their social life and I am sure that they will be thinking back on St. Maarten where things seemed so much easier, surrounded by people who care for them and who they can turn to for advice,” commented the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister also commented that sometimes some students may miss the island and their families and friends but that they should keep focused on their goals: “There will be that longing for St. Maarten but you have taken that decision to go abroad and study and we all hope that you do that with the intention of coming back to the island well equipped to add to the young people who have gone away and who have come back after achieving their study goals. So congratulations to you students and myself, Government and all of St. Maarten wishes you much courage, strength, and success in your studies,” concluded the Prime Minister at the crowd of eager students at the Princess Juliana International Airport.
