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December 2010
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ValedictorianClean, focused energyNakita Noel
During her address she looked back at the transition to university life. “Sometime very soon after the fun and relaxation of orientation week was over, we were struck with the harsh reality that this was no longer secondary school. Classes were in full swing, and the everlasting lab sessions began. The days of being spoon-fed in the classroom, seemed so far gone it was almost a figment of our imagination. The library became our close and personal friend and the stress levels began to rise. After all, I suppose they didn’t call it ‘reading’ for a degree, for nothing.” Confessing that she did not feel she was in a position to offer advice to her peers, she focused on some of their shared experiences and tried to extract lessons from them. “We may not yet fully comprehend the value of all the things we have learned here, but recognise that if we do the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves. The world requires a new generation of scholars who will effect a positive change and go beyond the call of duty; we are part of that generation. It is our responsibility to go into the world and do our part in bringing about this change by effectively applying our skill sets, making not only ourselves, but our families and our University proud,” was her conclusion. Nakita, who was awarded a BSc Major in Physics and Chemistry degree with First Class Honours, intends to have a PhD within four years. It would require a lot of the dedication and prioritizing skills she learned while doing her first degree, as she thought the most challenging aspect was coping with the workload. “To be honest, it seemed fairly overwhelming at times, which may be due in part to the fact that I was always picking up extra Environmental Physics courses. Some weeks I would have three lab reports due in addition to tutorials and coursework exams. I think the only thing that got me through the stress was that I genuinely loved what I was doing.” She was never daunted by people saying things were difficult. “It has been my experience that the people who tell you that courses or subjects are hard and that the failure rate is very high or the material is impossible to cover; are often people who aren’t particularly good at handling that particular subject matter. That in no way means that you will not be excellent at it.” Nakita is now doing an MPhil in Chemistry, in pursuit of an ideal to help produce clean energy. “Solar energy is currently the most promising source of renewable energy, having the potential to satisfy the long term energy demands of the growing global population. The main reason why it is not more widely used is that it is very expensive. The cost per kilowatt-hour is still quite high, mainly due to inefficiencies of current solar cell technologies. Finding some way to increase the efficiency of the technology would bring about a corresponding decrease in its cost, making solar energy more economically feasible for widespread use by the general public. I am currently working on developing novel quantum dots, semiconducting nanocrystals, which I hope would succeed in increasing solar cell efficiency.” Photography by PIPS
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Nakita Noel, valedictorian for the Faculty of Science & Agriculture, told fellow graduands that she was sure that theirs was “the most student-oriented faculty in the whole university.”