Rennetta Lewis Christian believes she illustrates the scripture verse, “It is not the swift who win, but those who endure that win the race” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). She is a young Anguillian living in the United States. Her achievements join a long list of first-generation college graduates, both national and international, hailing from Anguilla.
The University of Massachusetts Global (UMass Global) (formerly Brandman University) awarded Mrs. Christian a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours on May 22nd, 2022, when she completed her online undergraduate studies. For Rennetta, earning a long-overdue bachelor’s degree in Applied Mass Communications, with an emphasis in Liberal Studies, is the first step toward achieving her lifelong goal of establishing credibility in the communications industry. According to her, “I aspire to continue using my voice and words as effectively as possible.” In her current role as a frontline customer service agent, she makes it her mission to learn as much as possible. She opined that ‘the customer service industry allows me to enhance my soft skills, such as interpersonal skills, cognitive skills, and social skillfulness. I am ready to share my expertise and talents with anyone who has a desire to network and collaborate. Our island needs the golden asset of excellent customer service,” she added.
Mrs. Christian is self-driven and strongly believes in taking risks. She also reckons that maintaining a positive mindset and balance in her life while achieving academic and personal goals are equally important. During Rennetta’s enrollment at the West End primary school, which is now named the Alwyn Allison Richardson Primary School, she was first faced with some challenges in accessing the curriculum and therefore was placed in the Department of Education’s Reading Recovery Programme. This special focused programme assisted her with improving her reading abilities in grades 1 to 3.
During her time at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, her placement in bands 3s and 4s gave her the impression that she was incapable of learning. Nevertheless, she was determined to break through the stereotype and strive for success and excellence despite challenging times. Following her relocation from Anguilla in 2010, Mrs. Christian graduated from the St. Croix Central High School in 2013 and was ultimately encouraged to pursue tertiary education. Besides advice from an uncle who was a first-generation graduate, she lacked preliminary information, motivation, financial resources and motivation to attend college. This led to her becoming a researcher and an enquirer. Although initially, Rennetta enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Communications programme at the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, her impulsive decision was based on her love and admiration of the Arts. She was an active and passionate member of the student body, involved in campus life, and volunteered her time at numerous professional seminars and community affairs.
Additionally, she was the Chairperson of the Student Government Publications Committee and was a member of the St. Kitts-Nevis Student Association at the University of the Virgin Islands. Rennetta was also awarded a Title III Administrators Inc scholarship from the National Association of HBCUs for the 2017/2018 academic year, and she was the first recipient in over two years.
After enduring months of displacement because of Hurricane Maria, Rennetta was forced to take a two-and-a-half-year hiatus from university and relocated from St. Croix, USVI to the U.S mainland. She eventually transferred to UMass Global as a senior student, which would be virtually unheard of in academia and higher education.
The absurdity was evident to most people, especially when she changed her major from Communications to Business Administration to qualify for her former employer’s tuition assistance program. However, after receiving a C- grade during her first term at UMass Global, she vowed to herself to never receive a poor grade again.
Rennetta’s commitment to class assignments emerged in this period when she found a better mental space and declined most overtime offers from her job managers to maintain her focus. “Many people I worked with did not value or care about education, so I was willing to fight all forms of negative energy. As a student, I had a singular goal and pursued it relentlessly. I saw classmates and colleagues who started university before me, attended, and graduated. Other persons who started afterward gave up before graduating.”
She believes growth and resilience are two of her most valuable qualities. Despite many obstacles in her path, she refused to give up a good fight to earn her college degree. Her experience with college was difficult at times and giving up seemed like the easiest course of action. However, each time she had a setback, she devised a plan for her comeback.
Rennetta Lewis Christian is a poet and published book authour. When she was 13 years old, she began writing poetry as a hobby. This pastime led the young creative to publish her debut book of poems entitled A Girl’s Thoughts Through Poetic Arts in December 2019. As a communications student, Rennetta believed there was a need to combine her passion for writing and speaking with her desire to celebrate the Arts, endow them with education and effective communication, and emphasise their significance and impact in everyday life.
Mrs. Rennetta Lewis Christian is originally from South Hill, Anguilla. She holds several professional certificates, including Communication Skills for Bridging Divides and Customer Engagement Specialist by International Business Machines (IBM). In 2015, Rennetta contributed to the poetry anthology, Where I See the Sun—Contemporary Poetry in Anguilla, published by House of Nehesi in Saint Martin. She works as the freelancer of Rzhay Poetry and as a creative writer who performs technical writing such as curriculum vitae (CV), cover letters, blogging, and social media content.
Her dream is to one day return home to facilitate customer service and creative writing workshops and network with enthusiastic and like-minded individuals. Rennetta Lewis Christian lives her life in sync with the 5 H’s—humility, honesty, health, humour, and happiness.
Rennetta Lewis Christian conveys her thanks to the U.S. Department of Education Financial Aid Program and the aid she received from various non-profits to which she applied, family, friends, and well-wishers for their support throughout her collegiate venture and success.
