| TCI student represents nation at rally for President Obama | | Print | |
| Thursday, 06 January 2011 12:41 | |||
 Vasudeva R. Gazula proudly carried the flag of his home nation, the Turks and Caicos Islands, in a parade for U.S. President Barak Obama on On Oct. 22. The 17-year-old college student from Grand Turk is a story himself, being the youngest graduate of a primary school and then high school in the country. In 2006 at the age of 15, Vasu was awarded a government scholarship to study computer sciences at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He is currently in his third year at USC expecting to graduate next year. During his studies, Vasu has been making his country proud, placing on the USC dean’s list for the past five semesters with a 3.61 grade point average. When the U.S. president attended a rally at his university, Vasu was selected to carry the flag of the TCI in a National Pride parade during the presidential rally. Vasu walked alongside 120 international students who participated in the event. He said he was both honoured and proud to carry the flag of his nation where both his father and late mother contributed a majority of their life to the countries civil service. Dr. Rao Gazula came to the TCI in 1980 with his wife and took a position as a Psychiatric Social Worker in the Social Welfare Department on Grand Turk. During his 17 years there, he served as a member of the parole board, was a member of the National Drug Council for 12 straight years, and was founder of drug support groups in the TCI. He also ran a drug rehabilitation programme on Grand Turk until he was transferred to Providenciales in 1997, when he became head of Social Welfare. Dr. Gazula retired in 2004 after 24 years serving in the TCI civil service. Vasu’s late mother, Latha Gazula, started working as the first math teacher at the H.J. Robinson High on Grand Turk in 1980. She enjoyed teaching students there for 19 years until she died from cancer in December 1999. Vasu, who was born on Grand Turk, attended Richmond Hills Primary School on Providenciales. At the age of only eight, after receiving special permission from the Education Department to participate, he came in fifth place at the national GSAT exams. He then moved on to attend the British West Indies Collegiate on Providenciales. In 2006, he graduated at the young age of 14. Vasu’s proud father says his son is a role model for all young students in the TCI, and he is honoured that his son was able to represent his country in front of the U.S. president. Dr. Gazula says he and his late wife taught their own children, as well as all the children they had contact with, that “education is the key wherever you go.” “Today I am a single parent, proud of my two sons who were born in Grand Turk. I see lots of changes with my own eyes, especially many more children are doing very well in their education,” Dr. Gazula said, which is opening up more opportunities for them.
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