UWI Student Wins Central Bank of Barbados Scholarship

Budding Economist Wins the Roland Craigwell Memorial Scholarship

Quinn Weekes, a 20-year old final year Economics and Finance student at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill is the recipient of the Roland Craigwell Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, which is awarded by the Central Bank of Barbados, offers an $8,000 cash prize and an internship with that organization.

Weekes received the scholarship at the University of the West Indies’ 2016 Student Awards Ceremony on April 5 and says he is looking forward to his stint at the Central Bank this summer because “being able to intern at the Central Bank will provide me with experience and expertise” as he starts on his path to having a career in Capitals Markets and Capital Market Development.

Surprisingly Weekes, who is currently in the process of setting up an investment club and finance society with some of his friends from university, only developed an interest in Economics fairly recently. The former student of The St. Michael School revealed that until the end of his lower sixth year, he wanted to become a doctor, but during the summer vacation, he watched clips about the global financial crisis on YouTube and became fascinated with the field.

In his final year of secondary school, he took up Economics and successfully completed both units for the subject in one year, something for which he credits his former teacher, Christopher Kinch. Kinch, now a Research Officer at the Central Bank, says of Weekes, “Quinn has a level of focus I haven’t seen in a young person for a long time.”

But Weekes acknowledges that this wasn’t always the case. He admits that before Upper Six he did not perform well academically. That’s why the scholarship winner, who has a GPA of 3.92, considers this award proof that “through God and ‘the grind’ it is possible for everyone to achieve their dreams.”

The Roland Craigwell Memorial Scholarship is open to second and final year Barbadian students at the UWI, Cave Hill, who are pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics or a combined degree in Economics and a related discipline. The scholarship has been offered since 1996 and was previously called the Central Bank of Barbados Scholarship.

2016-04-11