Born on September 20th 1993, I am nineteen year old Jeanne Louisa Royer from the beautiful, quaint community of Goodwill. I am a creative, amiable and optimistic person who thrives on learning and experiencing new things.
I attribute my positive Catholic upbringing to my education at the Convent Preparatory School and the Convent High School. From primary school, I have always had a passion for reading. I would spend hours at the public library going from shelf to shelf looking for new books to read. From an early age my parents encouraged me to use my artistic skills to enter various art competitions locally and regionally. I won many prizes for drawing, logo and poster competitions across the island and even at an Easter hat competition! Also, from a very tender age, my love for music began and I learned to play my first musical instrument, the recorder. I continued with music classes throughout my childhood learning to also master the steel pan and saxophone. During my high school years, I formed part of the CHS school band where we attained gold, silver and bronze medals for our performances at the School’s Arts Festivals.
Despite my strong involvement in numerous after-school activities, I always managed to remain a diligent and focused student. I was a monitor, peer counselor, a member of the Debating Club as well as the Creative Writer’s Club at the Convent High School. During my years at high school I participated and won many competitions including the 2007 Tourism Knowledge Competition with the Dominica Hotel and Tourism Association, the 2009 winner for designing the logo for Math Educators and I also wrote the slogan ‘Count on us to Count you’ for the last national census.
Currently, I am a student at the Dominica State College, pursuing associate degrees in Mathematics, Literature and Biology. I was the president of one of the most prestigious clubs at college – the Culventure Club! Culventure stands for culture and adventure, a name which we proudly upheld by hosting creole-themed activities and promoting environmental awareness. My favourite activity with the Culventure club was hiking the different segments of the Waitikubuli National Trail. In 2011 I was selected to do a biology internship with the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. Also in 2011, I won the Canto Regional Essay Competition writing on the topic “Better life in rural communities with ICTs” and as winner, I travelled to Surinam to be part of an international conference on Communication. I am also a proud member of the Dominica Red Cross and the secretary of the National Archery Association.
Over the years, my hobbies have changed many times however my most rewarding thus far has been writing and reading. My favourite authors are J.K Rowling, George R R Martin, Khaled Hosseini and Shel Silverstein. I also have a love for music, drawing, blogging, sculpting, beading and gardening.
I am inspired by President Barack Obama because he has high moral values, he is dedicated to his promises and he is the image for perseverance during adversity. I have followed his campaign from the beginning and his slogan ‘yes we can’ still resonates today.
In the future, I see myself as an architect, like my father. I chose this field because I love art and design. One day, I hope to create something that truly represents beauty and the natural environment, something that reflects all the positive attributes of our country Dominica.
Jeanne’s Platform is Nature Conservation.