QUEEN’S COLLEGE GRADUATE AWARDED $140K SCHOLARSHIP TOWARDS BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING STUDIES
NASSAU, Bahamas — Queen’s College graduate Hodari Prince, 17, is the newest All Bahamas Merit Scholarship (ABMS). He has been awarded $140,000 ($35,000) per year in scholarship money towards his studies at the University of Guelph where he will pursue biomedical engineering, The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday, Augustr14, in an article written by Shavaughn Moss.
Hodari is the country’s 29th ABMS recipient in 28 years.
The ABMS is the most prestigious national scholarship awarded to a Bahamian candidate.
“It truly does mean a lot for me to be named the All Bahamas Merit Scholar in 2023. It is a great honor to be bestowed upon me, and is one which I do not take lightly. My country has now formally bestowed its trust and faith in me to go out into the world, get an education and pay back dividends towards the advancement of The Bahamas,” said Hodari.
He also was not quite surprised to hear his named called as the newest ABMS, but he said he was taken by surprise.
“I knew that the competition was a field full of very accomplished and stellar young people, and thus I was nowhere near sure I would receive the scholarship.”
He was one of 23 candidates – 12 males and 11 females – that had qualified for the prestigious award.
Hodari scored 1,440 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and graduated high school with a 4.19 cumulative grade point average (GPA).
He also passed 10 Bahamas General Certificate of Secondary Education (BGCSE) exams with A grades – English literature, English language, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, combined science, religious education, French, and geography His AP subject scores were psychology-5, human geography-5, biology-4, English literature and composition-4, French language and culture-3, and calculus AB-3.
Hodari’s AP awards included AP Scholar with Distinction, and AP International Diploma.
The Queen’s College graduate said the ABMS award was not necessarily one he aspired to achieve, but that it was something he always knew was attainable. When the time came, Hodari said it was fitting that he “threw his hat in the ring” and give it his best shot at trying for the scholarship.
Hodari did not apply for any other scholarships, but is the recipient of an entrance scholarship from the University of Guelph, valued at $7,500CAD per year, approximately $5,600BSD.
The son of Sheldon Prince and Mystee Spencer-Prince who plans to pursue studies in biomedical engineering said he has always wanted to be behind the development of, and advances in, medical technology, especially with things like prosthetics and organ development.
“I would say that I have been influenced by my parents, who both work in the healthcare field, and have dedicated their lives to helping people. Coupled with my fascination for biology and biochemistry, biomedical engineering felt like the field for me.
“I plan to help turn The Bahamas into a hub for scientific research and development, with a strong base in biomedical research and development. My goal is to eventually establish this nation as a leading country in the Caribbean and maybe the world in biomedical advances, a country which may even develop groundbreaking technology such as fully functioning organs made from scratch which do not face rejection and have no need for harmful immunosuppressants in patients.”
See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/hodari-prince-is-the-2023-all-bahamas-merit-scholar/?fbclid=IwAR2cd_Sh0k2iDtHUyyaNT6Jq89mjnZ7X7ZHRkjMyfe0pBM9rh7c5gjllkTQ
