After receiving the best grades possible in their computer science coursework, two T&T students graduated at the top of Howard University’s College of Engineering and Architecture.
Deante Taylor, 23, and Tyrone Smith, 22, now have positions as software engineers at tech behemoths Amazon and Google, respectively, thanks to their accomplishments. They are currently working on a “pipeline” initiative that will assist other T&T citizens in obtaining internships in the US.
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At the graduation ceremony held in Washington, DC, the two young men were presented with diplomas alongside US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley.
Taylor shared, “Essentially at Howard, the highest grade point average (GPA) you can have is a 4.0 which is essentially a perfect GPA, and Tyrone and I both achieved this grade.”
Not only did they have the best marks among computer science majors, but also the best grades across the board in the college.
Taylor, a student at Presentation College in San Fernando, won an open mathematics scholarship in 2019 but was unable to take it due to financial difficulties. He looked for a substitute.
“What actually got me my scholarship to Howard was my SAT scores, so I ended up getting a full ride to Howard,” he noted.
Smith, a St. Mary’s College alumnus from Port-of-Spain, also took the SAT examinations, which won him “a very large scholarship” from Howard.
Through an internet forum, the two strangers would eventually unite, beginning their ascent to the pinnacle of academics and forging a solid fraternal tie.
Taylor had to adjust to a new setting as well as confront some unique difficulties when he first started his studies.
Taylor stated, “My mom wasn’t working at the time and a couple of years before going to Howard my dad got into an accident that left him paralyzed and he was the breadwinner. So a lot of things were going wrong.”
He would also be put to the test in his first lesson, along with the resiliency of their brand-new friendship.
“We’re doing Computer Science, I am a Computer Science major, tell me why on the first day of class I have no working laptop? I’m in the class and I’m like, ‘Tyrone, can I borrow your laptop please?’ And I think, for almost half the first semester, I was just in class and I’d be like, ‘Tyrone, you’re done? Let me borrow it and just keep my fingers moving,” Taylor noted.
Smith, as they referred to each other, saved his Trini “partner in crime” by remembering his response to Taylor’s plea.
He noted, “It really opened my eyes . . . you know sometimes we can be in our own world studying academically and not be aware of other challenges that your fellow classmates or friends might be facing. I was lucky enough to have a laptop that I could use for the program but at the time he was still waiting on funding from the school as part of his scholarship.”
The scholar added, “Just seeing him struggle but at the same time, him being so persistent and wanting to persevere that he’d asked me, a guy who I just met online, didn’t know each other, to borrow my laptop, I admired that,” Smith said.
The two continued to have an impact outside of the classroom by founding the Howard University E-Sports Foundation and the rugby team at the university.
“It was the first of its kind on campus so navigating stuff like getting sponsors, setting up tournaments, even getting equipment was time-consuming. In the end, it did work out. We were able to network and get sponsorship from Verizon so they actually built our gaming lab at Howard,” Taylor explained.
Additionally, Verizon granted them $100,000 to distribute to female gamers at the time.
Howard University created an E-Sports competition in the US Middle Eastern Athletic Conference under Taylor’s direction, and it has won every competition since.
Smith, who founded the Howard University rugby squad, claimed that the team is now attempting to secure sports scholarships for T&T students and to forge connections between the Howard rugby coaches and T&T rugby players.
It was a memorable experience for them to share the graduation stage with President Biden and T&T Prime Minister Rowley.
Smith expresses that “The only way to describe that feeling was a sense of pride seeing not only the President of the United States but seeing our own prime minister being acknowledged for his contributions and then in that same breath receive an award alongside him.”
He is motivating young people to go all out in pursuing their aspirations.
“This is not just reserved for us. I think it is something anyone can achieve if they put their mind to it. This just goes to show that someone coming from any part of Trinidad and Tobago can work and be recognized on a stage as large as this,” Smith remarked as Taylor agrees to his outlook in encouraging the future generation of the Caribbean twin island.
“The biggest thing life has taught me is to be disciplined. I think with discipline you can reach very, very far in life. I have had a lot of friends that could work something in one day, 10 seconds, 10 days, but what’s the common factor to all these successful people? They were disciplined enough to put in the work,” Taylor noted.
In addition to pursuing their professional goals, they intend to further the “pipeline” initiative, which has already sent five students and their families to the US for internships, in the hopes that it would open up additional chances for other T&T nationals.
