Graduate battled grief after five relatives slain
A STUDENT who lost five family members to violent crime in two months has told how she battled through grief to graduate with distinction from university.
Hazina Alladin’s world was turned upside down by the deaths of two cousins, a cousinin-law, an uncle and his wife in two separate home-invasion robberies in her Trinidad home.
She admits the murders brought her “to her knees” and led to her ignoring her mental and emotional health as she threw herself into the demands of both her day job and studies
Now she has learned that she has graduated from Edinburgh
Napier with a BA with distinction in Business & Enterprise.
Ms Alladin, 28, who was also elected Online Programme Representative at the university, said: “Coping with my losses while working full-time, volunteering, studying for a degree and being away from my family was indeed challenging. However, I realised I needed both the peaks and the valleys to keep moving forward. The ups reminded me where I wanted to go, and the downs pushed me to get there.”
The first incident happened in Penal, south Trinidad, in August last year. While working on a course assignment, Ms Alladin learned in a call from her mother that two cousins and one of their wives had been found dead in their house with gunshot wounds and cuts to their throats.
She said: “I fell to my knees and cried uncontrollably. I screamed the word ‘no’ for hours until my voice was gone. It was absolutely heartbreaking.”
Two months later, a retired uncle and his wife were killed in a violent home invasion in Central Trinidad. A 24-year-old suspect was later arrested after being spotted driving their stolen vehicle.
She added: “Grief made everything feel like an extra effort, whether it was making friends or submitting work, but there were plenty of resources available at Edinburgh Napier to help me work though my feelings.
Dr Kingsley Omeihe, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Edinburgh
Napier’s Business School, said: “Hazina is an outstanding, dedicated and talented student.
“Achieving a distinction is an impressive feat, and the fact she has been able to do as well as she has, given the circumstances, says a lot about her. Her personal qualities are as impressive as her intellectual accomplishments.”