Shinika Holdipp was the only student to graduate with merit from the '99 graduating class at Bermuda College.

This great achievement gave her the opportunity to work at the Stonington Beach Hotel.

When managing consultant Leon O'Brien realised that he needed an administrative assistant, he called Bermuda College looking for a young, bright student fresh out of college.

The college gave the name of a young lady who often kept to herself but had enough friends just to make the day go by.

To Mr. O'Brien and his younger counterpart, general manager Esan Frederick, that was exactly what they wanted.

Mr. Frederick stressed the fact that he did not want someone who was more interested in "office politics'' than getting their job done.

Nineteen-year-old Shinika seemed like the perfect choice. She had graduated with a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.5 and all her teachers gave her extremely good character references.

After interviewing Shinika it was decided that she would start the very next day.

According to both of Shinika's bosses she has fit in.

"Sometimes she is too good. I'd give a letter to type and step out for a few minutes and when I come back it is laid out on my desk,'' Mr. Frederick commented on his new secretary's achievements.

And Shinika told The Royal Gazette : "I like this job very much. It is not stressful and I have bosses I can communicate with. I think I'll keep doing this until I know for sure what I want to do with the rest of my life.'' Most students might think that having two bosses would drive them crazy. But Shinika said: "Having two bosses is all right. One is always here in the office. But the other one is always in meetings.'' On Tuesday nights Shinika can be found at her church, the New Testament Church of God, Heritage Hall, helping out with the children's activities.

"I really like working with children,'' she said. "It has a lot of excitement and movement. But I started to learn how to be an administrative assistant in high school. I worked during the lunch period with my school secretary at Whitney.'' Shinika said while she was just doing it for credits to graduate, she is glad that she did it.