By Charminae George
Joining the military was always a goal of United States Army Staff Sergeant Kevisha Watkins, who indicated her ambition to her parents at a young age.
“I’ve always wanted to do law enforcement, even when I was younger I used to tell my mom, ‘Mom, I’m going to join the military,’” she revealed on Observer AM on Friday. As expected, her parents weren’t too thrilled about that prospect.
During her two years at the Antigua Girls High School, she had an interest in pursuing the science subjects, however she was unable to do them due to frequent fainting episodes.
“I was trying to take the sciences, but because I was fainting, and you know nobody really knew outside of my family what I was going through, they basically were hindering me from doing that,” she said.
The cause of her fainting spells, Watkins explained, was due to the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that resulted from her attendance at the Clarehall Secondary School during a period of two years.
“While attending Clarehall School, I was assaulted in the female bathroom, I was targeted,” Watkins recounted.
The incident resulted in her transfer to the Antigua Girls High School for two years, then her subsequent attendance at the Truman High School in the United States (US) for nine months.
She mentioned that the adjustment was tricky as the teaching styles employed by the Caribbean and the USA are a bit different. Nevertheless, she graduated with top honors.
“It was a little bit challenging, obviously from the teaching in the Caribbean to the teaching in the States…[but] I came out top honors in chemistry, along with ‘top athlete’ of that High School,” Watkins stated.
After graduating from college in the US, she returned to Antigua in 2016 to join the police force, which was ultimately unsuccessful. That disappointment saw her return to the USA where she joined the US military.
She rose up the military’s ranks, which led to her most recent promotion to Staff Sergeant, and her stationing at a military base in Virginia.
Watkins gave a brief definition of her new posting.
“It is the second most senior specialist rank who commands a squad of 9-10 soldiers. Often, a Staff Sergeant will have one or more Sergeants under his or her leadership. They are responsible for developing, maintaining , and utilising the full range of a soldier’s potential,” she said.
Watkins aims to fulfill her ultimate goal of working with the FBI or the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), upon completing her bachelor’s degree in forensic science with a minor in psychology. She also indicated her desire to become a drill sergeant which allows her to continue her passion of mentoring and teaching soldiers.
Her advice to others is to press on, despite the the occasional feeling of wanting to give up.
“It’s sweeter when you know you wanted to give up, but you never gave up, and you accomplished what everyone said you couldn’t. So never give up, keep pushing forward, and surround yourself with people that want the best for you,” Watkins advised.
Kevisha Watkins was born in the USA and raised in Antigua. The twenty-seven-year old is the daughter of noted music producer, Kevin Watkins, and Dulcie Horsford-Watkins, both of whom were born in Antigua. Her passions include sports, especially volleyball and track and field, and music.