By Leonard Gildarie  “I don’t have a problem with people considering me as that (a role model). But what I say to young people and especially young engineers, is that if you have to do something, do it well…it is the only way to do it.”There is an instance in one’s life where a finger could be placed on that time and one could say, yes, that was the defining moment.For Joseph Walter Holder, his manifested itself in 1952, as he was translating a Latin love poem while sitting in a classroom at Queen’s College, then an all-male school.Faced with prospects of either being lecturer or teacher,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, Joe as he is familiarly known, decided that a different direction was needed. It was a life which he would not regret, and which caused him to forsake numerous opportunities to leave Guyana’s shores and live elsewhere.Today, Holder is 75 years old, burnt red from the innumerable days in the sun,Wholesale Jerseys China, is one of Guyana’s top engineers.Joe HolderHe has expertly spearheaded the construction of the Demerara Harbour Bridge, run the country’s power company and helped build the Abary Bridge, which links the counties of Demerara and Berbice.Holder is also one of the founders of the Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE).He almost joined a weightlifting team for the Olympics but backed out at the last moment because of academic studies.Today, Joe Holder is still footing it out on Guyana’s roads helping to supervise construction, including a project at La Penitence, where a certain section is being expanded to facilitate larger volumes of traffic.So how did this Bartica-born stalwart make the leap from that gateway to the hinterland to the city, earning several degrees, and at one time even holding the post of Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Public Works?This week, for his sterling contributions to the development of Guyana and as a respected engineer and teacher, Kaieteur News has chosen Joe Holder as its ‘Special Person’.Distinguished familyHolder was the eldest of 11 children attending the St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Bartica.“That (Bartica) is definitely the most beautiful place in Guyana,” he boasted.His father, Joseph Holder, was a driver for the Transport and Harbours Department, which had an office then in Bartica; his mother was a teacher. His father also owned a gym in Bartica, which was an inspiration for Holder, even continuing to today, as he set up a gym at his current home in Ozama Street,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, North Ruimveldt.In 1947, Holder won a scholarship to attend Queen’s College, becoming only the second Bartician to do so.The Holder family later had the distinction of sending five sons to Queen’s College (QC) and four daughters to Bishops’ High School, another prestigious educational institution.“I hated the city with its muddiness and missed Bartica. But being the eldest, I was like the role model for the rest of my brothers and sisters, and had to set an example. I really couldn’t display that displeasure.”But he insisted that he was as focused as ever. He lived with his grandmother, and she was a great influence in this regard.Holder rose to eventually becoming the Deputy Head Student at QC. However, engineering was nowhere in his radar.“I did well in Maths and Arts… this was the direction I was heading in.”It was not until fifth form that Holder felt the need to switch his attention to Science.“Yes, that defining moment was when I was staring out the window at QC and realised that I did not want to translate any Latin love poem. That was not what I wanted,” he fondly reflected.Consequently, Holder asked his teachers to switch his field, although he was two months behind.At Queen’s College, Holder, while not an enthusiastic athlete earlier on, took up running, excelling at the 110 metres hurdles and becoming the shot put champion.His excellent showing at the General Certificate of Education (GCE) earned Holder a place at the University College of the West Indies (UCWI), and he later attended the University of Birmingham, University of Toronto, University of Guyana and University of Pittsburgh, USA. Along the way, he gathered Bachelors’ Degrees in Civil Engineering and Masters Degrees at Civil Engineering and Public Works.SYMBOLIC MOMENTWhile at UCWI, he managed to take up swimming, earning a swimming place in a 50 metres challenge.In 1961, on his return to Guyana from England, Holder was appointed Assistant Engineer at the Public Works Department and tasked with building the Abary Bridge, which links Berbice and Demerara. He emphasised that it was a symbolic moment for him when government recently repaired the structure and called on its constructor to supervise it.Between 1966-1968, Holder was switched to his first love, road building, and headed that division in th