Our featured Young Professional for this week, Simone T. Harrigan, tells a remarkable story of perseverance, discipline and determination and also embodies the true spirit of a woman of strength, focus and character. Photo: supplied

Simone (right) poses with co-workers during a recent party. Photo: supplied

Simone going on her trip to Miami in January 2012. Photo: supplied

Virgin Islands News Online proudly presents Simone T. Harrigan, a Personal Banking Officer at the Scotiabank Virgin Gorda Branch and avid business student. She also is a proud and dedicated mother to a six year old daughter.

Though in some regards Simone grew up as an only child with her mother and grandmother, she has two half-sisters and also has a younger brother who was born the same year she graduated from high school. She was raised in Virgin Gorda and attended the Bregado Flax Primary and Secondary schools before graduating in 2004 as an honour student.

Simone says she grew up as a quiet and shy child who was never outspoken but was also a bit spoiled and got whatever she wanted. She saw herself as someone who was always an intellectual and previously aspired to become a lawyer but had a change of heart and later decided to pursue something in the business field.

Our Young Professional was briefly in the Leo Club as a teenager. She also loved being in the school band where she played the clarinet for about five years in the Senior Band and the saxophone for about 2 years in the Jazz Band. “That was my passion at that time,” she revealed.

After she graduated from High School, Simone moved to Tampa, Florida where she studied International Business. She described the experience as being ‘different’. “After being so close with my family here and going to a new country on my own, even though I was living with family, I still had some adjustments to make,” Simone related, “it was a big change but I got the hang of it.”

She remembers having to get up very early in the morning to catch a bus to go to school and also recalls her days working on campus in a work-study programme at the time.

She later left in 2006 to go to another school in Miami, Florida – Johnson & Wales University – but didn’t like the location or school curriculum very much and moved back home to the Virgin Islands the same year.

It was the same year that her daughter was born. She made a decision about whether she wanted to stay in Miami and finish school after learning of her pregnancy and opted to come home.

Simone had not been deterred from her professional path by the birth of her beautiful daughter, however, and stated that she is currently completing that studying journey that she first started. She restarted her college education through an online college in mid 2011 and is scheduled to graduate early in 2014.

Our Young Professional related that she now balances being a single mother with her full time job and her college education. “It is not easy,” she disclosed, balancing her work and school life has indeed presented its fair share of challenges but she continues to tough it out with the loving support of her mother and grandmother.

Regarding the support received from her family she explained, “Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed, I can just drop my daughter off and just take a little break… my family always encourages me to try to stay focused and they are willing to help me in any way that they can.”

She took a break from school in 2012 after going through some personal issues and didn’t want her grades to be affected by what she was facing at the time.

“It takes a lot out of you,” she continued, “it took me more or less, five years to decide to go back to school… I wasn’t sure that I would be able to handle it.”

She disclosed that going to school in an online atmosphere is nothing like sitting in a classroom, “you basically have to teach yourself when you’re going to school online.” Studying online, she added, requires much discipline and self-motivation and involves setting deadlines for yourself as a student.

“There is not someone always behind you about completing something… so most of the time you have to push yourself and say I have to get this done today or I have to get this assignment done this week…” she disclosed, “procrastination can be very, very tempting… but you have to be a go-getter if you want to be successful.”

Although she does get complacent at times and is even guilty of procrastinating at other times, Simone said she has found the discipline necessary to persevere, especially in situations where she is under pressure. She successfully maintains a GPA of 3.83.

Simone related that the support has been really great so far and everyone is excited to know that she is almost at the final stage of her studies.

The Personal Banking Officer stated that information is usually provided to students who in turn basically have to apply the information to whatever the instructor requests in the lectures. “If anyone wants to (study online), they have to be prepared in their mind that this is what you’re going to stick to and not just start it and give up because there may be times that you want to give up on it,” she explained.

She previously worked as a Junior Accountant at a local accounting firm and also worked elsewhere before starting her now five year journey with Scotiabank.

As the only Personal Banking Officer with Scotiabank’s Virgin Gorda location, Simone is responsible for meeting the financial needs of all of the customers that come into the bank on a daily basis. She also handles all credit card applications, mortgages, fixed deposit accounts in addition to other areas.

Simone loves the feeling of satisfying the customers and seeing the smiles on their faces especially when they have received loans for their first car or are able to purchase their lot of land to build their dream home.

“I didn’t just want to have a degree in Business Administration or Accounting,” she related “I wanted to do something different and that is why I chose the International Business field.”

At Scotiabank, she explained, there are numerous opportunities to take advantage of and being in the business field with the degree she is pursuing does not restrict her to a specific area. She disclosed that staff might have the option to work in the Commercial Department, Mutual Funds, Wealth Management among other areas or other countries.

She fondly remembers being nominated for the Best of the Best award at Scotiabank in 2011 and stated that even though she did not win the award, she was able to go on an all-expenses paid trip to Miami in 2012.

According to Simone, each year Scotiabank selects an employee for the Best of the Best award (similar to an employee of the year award) and she felt fortunate to have been recognised as a nominee for the special honour. “Even though I did not get the grand prize, it was still a great experience to know that you can work hard and you can still be rewarded for it.”

Simone advised that youths should never let any stumbling blocks come in the way of achieving their goals. She explained that after becoming pregnant and having to be a young mother, many persons would opt not to return to school and not become what they are truly capable of being; but she encourages them to continue pushing and to always try to look for ways to achieve their goals.

She also advised that it is okay to make mistakes in life but the most satisfying feeling is when you've learnt from that mistake and are able to achieve your goals despite the consequences of that mistake.