This Week We Feature Young Professional Lisa R. Vanterpool
Meet the astute and committed Lisa R. Vanterpool who is our Young Professional for this week, a young lady who is an exemplar of what it means to be determined and dedicated and who has a passion for helping young people.
Listening to her, it is clear that her drive and determination have helped shaped her goals as she works to continue fulfilling her dreams in the areas of teaching, youth work and entrepreneurship for the betterment of her community.
Born on the main island of Tortola in the Virgin Islands, our Young Professional moved to the island of Anegada at an early age where she went to school. She said being the ambitious child that she is, she aimed always for A grades. Her favourite subjects were English and Principles of Business and her interests were reading and cooking.
After she completed high school at the Claudia Creque Educational Centre on Anegada, she moved on to earn herself an Associate’s degree in legal studies at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College as at that time she wanted to become a lawyer. However, her career path soon took a different direction when she fell in love with the teaching profession. She is now a teacher at the Claudia Creque Educational Centre on Anegada.
In pursuing her love for the teaching profession, she earned for herself an Associate’s degree in Education from the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College and then she moved on to earn her Bachelors’ and Masters in Business Administration from Ashworth University in the United States of America.
“For me it was easy,” she said when asked about the experience studying for the degrees. She completed her bachelors in 2010 and her Masters in 2012.
She said that in five years she hopes to still be in the profession she loves so much. “I like my job because of the interaction and bond I get from the students,” she said.
A teacher in & out of school
Vanterpool is also a leader of her church’s youth group, which she created and which caters for young persons 12 to about 20. “I just saw that the children needed something to do so I came up with the idea of the youth group in the church,” she said, adding that over the past year that it has been in existence it has been doing well and increasing in numbers. She is also working out the mechanics of accommodating younger children aged 12 and under into the group.
“We do games, we do other activities, we hold concerts…I try to teach them things about the Bible,” she said.
She is also the Deputy Chairperson of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) that helps with emergencies on the island.
Young entrepreneur
Not only is she a teacher by profession but also she is an entrepreneur, successfully managing a chicken farm for the past five years.
She said since the chicken farm business is a seasonal one, it is mainly active around tourism season. “I don’t have any chickens now as I am getting ready to start back this year. It is just something that I sat down and thought about and developed it,” she said.
'Keep your head on'
“My advice to young people would be to always keep your head on. Don’t let the opinions of others deter you from your goal in life and always strive for the best,” she said, adding that this is a message she constantly tells her students in school as well as those in the youth group she heads.
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