Joshua Ramjattan

Bachelor of Science, Mathematics (Specialisation)

First Class Honours

Faculty of Science and Technology

Joshua Ramjattan is accustomed to excelling at what he works at, and, for him, that is what it means to “Be UWI” – to be world-class, resilient, versatile and “someone who keeps the door open for those behind you when one has been opened to you”.

Joshua’s fascination with Mathematics began in secondary school as he became more aware of the widening scope of the discipline. He soon determined that he wanted to continue to learn about the body of knowledge that makes up the universe, and its practical applications to, say, a pandemic response.

For him, the choice to study at The UWI St Augustine was easy. Not only would he be able to focus on the parts of pure and applied mathematics that intrigued, but also dabble in computer programming, mechanics, and macroeconomics.

Moreover, the experience for him was wholly memorable, from getting lost trying to find the Daaga Auditorium for his very first class, to walking through the verdant field adjacent to the Learning Resource Centre after class, to wondering constantly why the weather on campus seemed to defy all known laws of physics, to sitting his final exam on March 13, a date that became a profound point of change for his life.

Sitting at the top of those memories was the Matriculation and Welcome Ceremony of 2018. At the beginning of it all, Joshua was selected as the top student matriculant as a result of his stellar performance in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) and for earning an Open Scholarship from the Government of Trinidad and Tobago. For this, he symbolically signed the student register on behalf of all new students – a moment he keeps a photo of with him at all times.

Joshua credits his successes to the support of family and friends, and the superb guidance of the Faculty’s Mathematics Help Centre and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics’ staff members. Wanting to pay that help forward, in his final year, he tutored secondary students who were preparing to write CAPE and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations to help them overcome the challenges introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also served as Secretary for two of the three years that he was a member of the St Augustine UWI Mathematics Society.

Seeking to continue to be the best version of himself and a version that continues to serve others, Joshua aspires to become an educator in the applied aspects of mathematics, namely statistics, mathematical modelling, and mechanics. He hopes to continue finding joys in food and seeing those around him achieve the goals they set for themselves.