A young retailer decided to change her world in the early 1990s, and was consequently admitted to the Bermuda Bar yesterday by Chief Justice Austin Ward.

Sasha Castle, 28, gave a tearful testimony to her struggle and quest to become a lawyer. She paid respects to numerous supporters, including her stepmother Gina.

Mrs. Castle's journey to become a lawyer took her through the high-powered law offices of Mello, Jones and Martin, Conyers, Dill and Pearman and Appleby, Spurling and Kempe as a summer student and internee.

Speaking at her call to the Bar yesterday, Queen's Counsel Saul Froomkin joked he was "getting a little concerned" about the number of women joining the Bar. He told Chief Justice Ward: "She's had an outstanding academic career and career in community service."

Mrs. Castle graduated from Warwick Academy in 1990 as deputy head girl and studied in Indonesia the following year with the Rotary Exchange.

She graduated from the University of Wasrwick, where she met her husband from Gambia in 1999 and finished postgraduate studies the following year at Oxford University.

Michael Mello, of Mello, Jones and Martin, said he could not list all of her achievements because it would not give other speakers enough time for their speech.

Mrs. Castle's godmother, Priya DeSousa Levers - a barrister practising in Jamaica - challenged her god-daughter to "uphold this noble profession with the highest of integrity".

"I have no doubt, in my mind, that she can do that," Mrs. Levers added.

Lawyer Leighton Rochester also spoke to Mrs. Castle's character. Mrs. Castle, embracing her nine-month-old daughter Najmah, told The Royal Gazette: "I wasn't satisfied (with retail), the future prospects - the next step up was owning the store.

"I was always talking about law; I worked (in retail) but my mind was always on law. I'm so happy because I know that this is the beginning," she said, soaking up tears with a tissue.