As the remaining essence of summer dwindles away, many students dread going back to the classroom. However, for Selena Cartwright, the 2024 Carleton Williams Scholarship recipient she could not be more excited.

Selena, a recent 6th grade graduate from Garvin Tynes Primary School, Caribbean Bottling Company’s (CBC) neighborhood school was named the 2024 scholarship winner.

The scholarship program, which was established in 2016 to honor Carleton Williams CBE, on his retirement as Chairman of the Board for Caribbean Bottling Company, local producers of Coca-Cola and Dasani products, has left a lasting impact on its awardees.

Applicants are chosen in rotation between Grand Bahama primary schools and Garvin Tynes Primary School in New Providence. The winning scholar is awarded a full scholarship to a local private school for the full six years of high school, subject to a minimum 3.0 GPA requirement.

This year, as always, the 2024 scholarship selection process was not taken lightly. As the scholarship committee narrowed down their choices, Selena’s application remained compelling. Her extracurricular activities, grades, passions, recommendation letters and character that was beautifully displayed during the scholarship interview solidified her candidacy for the award.

Selena and her mother Tonya Cartwright shared the entire journey of becoming a Carleton Williams scholar, from years of preparation to their reactions and future anticipations.

As imagined, Selena was totally overwhelmed when she discovered she was selected to be this year’s scholarship recipient.

“I had tears of joy because I worked so hard. It was a very happy moment, and my siblings were very happy because they are so nice to me.” she said.

Taking pauses of gratitude while fighting back tears Tonya recalled her initial reaction.

“I was at a total loss for words. You have no idea how much this will help Selena and our family, she really wanted this.” Tonya said.

For the incoming 2024/2025 academic school year Selena will be attending her dream school, Bahamas Academy; a reality she shared would not be possible without this scholarship.

“The teachers made me feel confident when I took my entrance test, and I love that feeling. I want to be successful so I knew I wanted to attend that school, but I also knew I could not go without receiving financial help.” she said.

Selena’s drive to be her best self was instilled in her from an early age and applies to other sectors of her life too.

“Being the oldest we told her to push herself and she just did it. But what always amazes me about Selena is her desire to give back to her community and inspire others.” Tonya shared.

When Selena is not practicing her lines for Drama Club, perfecting her pitch for Choir or reviewing words for Spelling Club she can be found giving back to her community through school supply drives, practicing reading with students in Kindergarten and Grade 1, school clean-up day or any service-based initiatives.

With the 2024/2025 academic year off to a great start, Selena looks forward to taking on new subjects such as Biology and Literature in high school.

“I’m looking forward to the new subjects and new curriculum. I like writing in my free time and how the body operates is so interesting to me, I’m excited to learn more in those areas in school. Overall, I’m just excited to build on my learning experiences.” she expressed.