Sept. 28, 2008 — Shaheeda Rickson is soft-spoken, with a ready smile and big dreams. Right now, she is studying journalism at the University of the Virgin Islands, and plans on continuing studies in New York — and landing a job at the New York Times, where she hopes to work as an environmental writer.
At just 18 years old, Rickson has accomplished a lot — indeed, her list of honors and activities already reads like a resume. While attending All Saints Cathedral School on St. Thomas, she based her four years of high school on two things: academics and work.
"I always want to make sure I have everything done, turned in everything on time — tried to do all the things I could do to keep me on the path to success," she said. With all A's and B's on her report card, it's no surprise that Rickson was on the honor roll and in the National Honor Society. During her senior year, she was also president of Interact — a nationally recognized community service club — and topped that off by helping to form another group with her friends that reached to local charities such as the Nana Baby Home and the Salvation Army.
A well-rounded student, Rickson also played soccer and was on the school's student council — all the while balancing an after-school job. But there was still time for fun, she said, as she described hanging out with her friends, her love of going to the beach, reading and playing guitar — "low-key activities," she said, that could always "fit in" to the busy schedule.
And of course, there was always time for writing poetry and short stories, she added.
"When I was in high school, I first wanted to be a zoologist," Rickson said. "My favorite person was Steve Irwin (the late Australian more famously known as the "Crocodile Hunter"). When he died, I was really sad, and it hurt too much to keep thinking about it, so I looked for something else and I thought that I could be a writer.
"Around the same time, I really got into the whole going-green movement… I don't do film, so I couldn't do a documentary, but I could write, and I thought that all I might need to do is put what's happening to the world around us into words, so that everyone could really understand and want to make a change."
The desire to make a difference is what propelled Rickson to think about applying to college in New York, and to plan out a career in journalism at the New York Times. After spending the next one to two years at UVI, Rickson plans on attending New York University in Manhattan, where she has already been accepted. Meanwhile, her favorite subjects continue to be English and humanities, she said.
Rickson also continues to cultivate her own writing portfolio, drawing inspiration from writers such as children's author Scott O'Dell and Stephen King, along with her own experiences.
The eldest of four children, Rickson gives her family a lot of credit for how she's turned out.
"I am protective of my siblings — so much so that I have people, like their friends, afraid of me," she joked. "But I would definitely say my family is a big inspiration — when people write, or when I write, I write about things that make me happy or sad. And there are those experiences with any family. I like to write about the good times we have."
Writing a fantasy novel is also on the to-do list, Rickson added.
"I would like to write a novel that pulls the reader away from real life a little," she said. "Not so much that it becomes harmful or time-consuming, but so that it inspires people to do things and to dream big."
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