FORMER national Under-23 footballer Stefan St Louis continues to make his mother Anne Dick-St Louis proud, graduating recently from Oakland University, Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communications.
The 23-year-old, played an instrumental role in Oakland capturing their third straight regular season Summit League championship in 2009, finishing as their top goal scorer.
St Louis is currently in Europe trying to secure his first professional overseas contract.
Speaking to Newsday recently, his mother revealed that she is extremely proud of her son’s achievements.
“I feel proud. It was a challenge for him to go across there in the cold weather. He had options but it was Ms Iva Glouden at UWI-SPEC who encouraged him to go to Oakland because there are other Trinidadians there so it would be easier to acclimatise,” she said.
She revealed that her son always wanted to be a professional footballer but she persisted he get his education first.
Louis has been one of the star players for Oakland, gaining All-Summit League selections multiple times. The former St Anthony’s footballer struggled in his first year at Oakland and found adjusting to the new culture and weather very difficult.
“To be honest, I hated it here my first year. It probably took my whole freshman year to get used to it,” he said in an interview with the Oakland Post, “it was 60 degrees (Fahrenheit) when I got here. I wanted to go home as soon as possible,” he added.
But since that year, St Louis has excelled on and off the field of play and was beaming with joy when he graduated from Oakland with his mother attending the ceremony.
St Louis’ mother would like to thank all the individuals who assisted her son in developing him as a footballer and in his academics as well.