When Samantha Shukla isn’t running on the track, she’s busy studying psychology at her home in Beetham Gardens. While few have proven to excel in both school and sports, Shukla, 23, did so against the odds. Shukla believes she couldn’t succeed in one without the other. “I would not have been successful on the track if I wasn’t successful in the classroom,” said Shukla, who graduated with a minor in psychology and major in sport management from the Wichita State University (WSU) in Kansas, USA, five months ago. Having returned to her crime-ridden community with a bachelor’s degree, Shukla has her eyes and heart set on doing her masters in educational psychology at WSU. She recently applied for an athletic scholarship from the Ministry of Public Administration and is awaiting a response. “I am hoping and praying that I get a favourable feedback. This would be the icing on my cake,” Shukla said.
Educational psychology is the study of how people learn and retain knowledge, primarily in educational settings like the classroom. This includes emotional, social and cognitive learning processes.
Shukla said she chose this field because she wants to help the less fortunate. The eldest of five girls, Shukla has made her community and parents Earla Fernandez, a sales representative, and Chandadutt Shukla, a freelance photographer, proud. “People tend to listen to the negative things that come out of Beetham Gardens...like the murders and gang violence, but I am a proud product of my community. I am not ashamed to tell anyone where I grew up and how I struggled to reach this far in life. I wanted to prove a point that in every dark cloud there is a silver lining.”
A cross-country runner, she believes that no matter where a person grows up, they can succeed with hard work, sacrifice, dedication and determination. “There’s always someone who’s better than you. So you get to take their wisdom and implement it in your life to be able to do bigger and better things. It’s really important to be well-rounded, but it’s hard to put your all into one thing and also succeed in another, so you just have to sit down, focus and prioritise. “And everything else will fall into place,” she assured. At Wichita, there is nothing like failing or falling behind, Shukla said. Of the four years she spent at the university, Shukla said the first three months was most challenging. She had to conform to the university’s daily training sessions and constantly “beat the books” to maintain her 3.81 grade point average. “I remember cuddling my teddy bear and crying myself to sleep at night because my training and school-work were demanding a lot out of me. The pressure was insurmountable. At times, I felt like giving up, but I had to put my shoulders to the wheel. At Wichita there was nothing like falling behind or failing. It was about overcoming your challenges and rising to the top.”
Looking back, Shukla said the teaching and training at WSU has made had a strong and determined woman. What made her stay at WSU enjoyable and worthwhile was being embraced and accepted by members of the university’s athletic team. “My classmates became my pillar of strength and family. When I didn’t have a computer to do my class projects, they provided me with one.”
They also nursed Shukla back to health whenever she fell ill. “Also, when I needed to do my shopping and groceries, they took me around in their vehicles, because WSU does not have public transportation. I was expecting to be treated differently by my peers but they were so receptive and caring, I never felt alone or afraid.”
While attending Success RC Primary School, Shukla was drawn to athletics. At age 12, she embraced the sport by competing in 150, 400, 800 and 3,000-metre races. “I also tried my hand at 5k races and long jumping.” However, she didn’t take long to realise that distance running was her first love. Upon enrolling at South East Port-of-Spain Secondary School in 2003, Shukla joined the Success and Excellence Athletic Club and trained twice a day with her teammates at the Queen’s Park Savannah.
The training gave her immense physical and mental strength. Her impressive running times also earned her a spot in the TT athletics team, and she competed in the 1,500-metre race at the Carifta Games Championships from 2005 to 2007. Though she won a bronze medal in 2005 at the championships, Shukla’s hard work was recognised after obtaining six O-Level passes. She was offered a place at St Joseph’s Convent, Port-of-Spain, in 2008 to do her A-Level exams. “Although my parents were not rich and my grades not the best in class, I was able to showcase the school in a positive light with my long distance running.” After A-Levels, Wichita awarded Shukla an athletic scholarship in 2010, when she began a new journey in life.