Michael Reid off to university

Both the University of the Commonwealth Caribbean (UCC) and the Northern Caribbean University (NCU) have offered Michael Reid, the 21-year-old youth who took to social media to lament his trying circumstances recently, free courses of study to bolster his entrepreneurial pursuits and personal development.

The young man, who defied the odds of being jobless, homeless and almost being co-opted into gang violence, has expressed elation at the offers despite being expelled from several secondary institutions in the past.

Reid’s story has fast become one of inspiration and a testimony for many Jamaicans.

His admission to the UCC will initially be to the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) to pursue studies in marketing promotions and sales to gain the skills and certification needed to matriculate to an associate degree programme in occupational logistics and supply chain management, he told The Sunday Gleaner.

“After the CAP programme is completed and I have passed all the courses, then I will move over to the logistics programme,” he said, beaming with enthusiasm.

He began orientation online through the UCC campus in Montego Bay earlier this month, with classes set to begin soon.

The NCU short course is also slated to begin shortly, based on the letters of admission from the institutions seen by The Sunday Gleaner.

The [UCC] course “will boost my skills in sales”, Reid said, adding that he loves and naturally excels in this area. “It will boost my ability to do the marketing of my businesses.”

Allan Green, Reid’s mentor and friend, further shared that the NCU short course in business administration will also improve his academic acuity while providing the grounding and personal development he needs to continue his growth.

“We don’t want anything to be denied for him,” Green said. “We want to ensure that whatever comes will add to him being a better person.”

Reid’s story tug at the heartstrings of many a few weeks ago, when he made a video, which later emerged on social media, pleading for help and prayers to keep him on the straight and narrow amid his struggles to make a life for himself and shun the calls of friends to turn to a life of crime.

He has since received assistance in getting a broiler chicken operation going.

He has also been given access to a piece of land to expand his poultry farm as well as to make a foray into cultivating cash crops. This, along with his acceptance into NCU, was made possible through his connections to the Seventh-day Adventist faith.

“I will planting some sweet peppers and okra,” Reid shared, adding he also intends to start selling fruits grown on the land.

But for now, he is focused on getting returns on what he has already invested in his broiler chicken business, he said.

“I will be remaining where I am until all of this has been sorted out because I don’t want to be doing too much at the same time,” he said of his steps to build his businesses and attend classes.

The young entrepreneur is also doing his best to manage the donations he has so far received and has pre-purchased another clutch of chicks to ensure “I can turn over the money”.

“What I try do is that every two weeks I try to get some chickens because they are hard to get now. So, I order in advance so that I will always have,” he said.

With ready markets of restaurants and cookshops for his first batch due in another few weeks, Reid is also mindful of those who would seek to credit his chickens with no intention of paying, as is often the fate of many small poultry farmers.

“Not everybody can find the money upfront, but it has to be 50 per cent [payment] on delivery and the balance no later than 14 days after,” he said, noting he is keen on collecting his receivables.

Of his plans to balance both courses of study at the same time, he is no way daunted.

“The key is time management,” he said, exuding happiness at his new-found fortune.

tameka.gordon@gleanerjm.com