18-y-o Jevaughn Gordon is determine to do well

People react to the death of a loved one in different ways. For 18-year-old Jevaughn Gordon, a sixth-form student at St Jago High School, the death of his mother in 2015 gave him a new perspective on life.

Gordon, who has just started upper sixth form after receiving grade ones in sociology, communication studies, law, and management of business in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) said that after the death of his mother and the migration of his father when he was in fourth form, he had to make sense of his new reality.

"I went to live with my sister after mom died. It was very difficult for me to process everything. However, I knew I had to do well in my CSEC [exams] because that's what my mother would have wanted me to do," said Gordon, who received eight ones in the exams.

"Living with my sister, who is very keen on academics, was a good thing for me. I made a decision to do the best I could in memory of my mother, who was a real inspiration to me during the years she was alive."

Study regime

According to Gordon, he had to develop a study regime based on the time he spent on the road travelling to and from school.

"I had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. each day to get to school by 7:40. I normally got home by 9 p.m. This meant that I had to have a study period."

Gordon revealed that he would study from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., get a couple of hours of rest, and then sleep while travelling to school on the bus or in his sister's car.

With ambitions of pursuing marketing or law at the University of the West Indies after completing sixth form next year, Gordon said he is planning to sit all four subjects in unit two CAPE. He told The Gleaner that he faces added pressure because of the targets he has set for himself.

"I am also conscious of community expectations because I am currently living in a closely knit community. I don't want to disappoint my mother, first of all, then my sister and other family members, so I have to maintain my A grade in all four subjects," he said, crediting his teachers at St Jago High School for the interest they continue to show in him.

Gordon's sister Tanecia Gordon McPherson, his father and other family members are providing financial support for his education.

"I am feeling overwhelmed ... . I am feeling good. It's the goodness of the Lord. Jevaughn has put in a lot, and he has started to see the results of his hard work," Gordon McPherson told The Gleaner.