JLP scholars have high hopes for future

For the current academic year, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) has initiated five Jamaica Labour Party national scholarships.

“Each Jamaica Labour Party National Scholarship is awarded to an individual with a strong record of academic achievement, who demonstrates a concern for others, a commitment to community and country, strong leadership potential and exemplary character,” the JLP said.

It also said the selection process was an “open, transparent, competitive, meritocratic one”, which opened on August 15. More than 300 people applied. Twenty-five of them were interviewed over two days. Six bursaries and five scholarships in the names of five former JLP prime ministers were awarded.

Daniel Meggo

Cornwall College graduate Daniel Meggo is the quintessential model student, excelling at academics and sports. In Jamaica, he was second in Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) information technology, sixth in CSEC chemistry and physics, and eighth in information technology in the Caribbean.

Over the years, he has won many high jump medals at Western Champs, and earlier this year, at National Champs, he was a Western Union Bright Spikes awardee for excellence in track and field. He also plays football. But how does he do it?

“I put God first and give Him the glory in everything that I do. Balancing academics and co-curricular activities is quite difficult … . It requires the wise allocation of time, along with hard work, dedication, perseverance, and a never-give-up attitude … A willingness to make sacrifices is also very crucial,” said the young man, who has always been a “hard-working individual”, giving his best in everything that he does.

Yet, his family, he said, was right behind him, every step of the way.

“My family has played an integral role in my life’s successes, including this one. They have invested so much in me, both financially and emotionally. My family has helped me to tap into my true potential and they have moulded me into the man that I am today,” he asserted.

One of the greatest reasons for working very hard, he said, was to make sure his college education would not put a financial burden on his family. With nine grade ones at CSEC and 10 grade ones at Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), and his achievements in track and field, he was expecting at least one scholarship.

When this academic year started, and no scholarship came his way, he said he was “slightly disappointed”.

But that disappointment turned to joy when he heard he was the JLP’s inaugural Hugh Shearer Engineering Scholar.

“I was absolutely elated,” he said.

Meggo is now at UWI Mona studying biomedical engineering, after which he intends to undertake postgraduate studies. He also wants “to contribute to medical literature through research and publication of same”. Consultancy and teaching are also on the list.

Sebastian Lawrence

Like Meggo, Sebastian Lawrence was overwhelmed when he got the news.

“I am beyond elated to be selected as the inaugural recipient of the Jamaica Labour Party’s Edward Seaga Economics Scholarship. I am grateful to God for blessing me with this opportunity, and to my family, especially my mother, for their unwavering support,” the super-volunteer told The Gleaner.

The Ardenne High School graduate also said “the cost of tuition and other university-related expenses posed a challenge to my dream of attaining a university education”, and so “the desire to achieve my academic dreams, coupled with my thirst for excellence, propelled me to apply for this scholarship”.

And he perhaps has got it because of his volunteerism, and academic achievements, which include nine grade ones at CSEC, seven grade ones at CAPE (eight passes), placing second in Jamaica in CSEC economics, placing third in the Caribbean in CAPE economics, and ninth in the 2019 Jamaica Stock Exchange High School Stock Market Competition. He is now pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and economics at The University of the West Indies, Mona campus.

“Professionally, I am desirous of becoming an economist at the Bank of Jamaica. Additionally, I intend to be an investor in the local economy and stock market while also volunteering with charitable organisations with the aim of playing my part in the achievement of the ideal Jamaica, to work, raise families and do business. I hope to use the knowledge garnered through these volunteer experiences in my future role as an economist and change agent in Jamaica,” he said.

Nile Anderson

Nile Anderson is an academic standout. The former head prefect left Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar, Westmoreland, with 19 CSEC subjects (15 grade ones) and 16 CAPE subjects (13 grade ones).

He also got the CSEC Caribbean Award for being the most outstanding candidate in the sciences in the 2014 sittings.The award is given to the person with the highest cumulative grades in the subjects classed as science subjects. The accolades kept going his way when he was named UWI Mona’s top matriculant in 2016. And now he is the inaugural JLP Donald Sangster Engineering Scholar.

“I believe strongly that my own personal goals are very much in line with the goals of the JLP in this endeavour. I would like to revolutionise engineering in Jamaica, and to achieve this, I want to place special emphasis on the development of human resources. I hope to create opportunities for other aspiring engineers to pursue their dreams, as the JLP has done for me,” he said.

Upon completing his BSc degree in electronics engineering at the UWI, Anderson intends to pursue a doctoral degree in the same field to land a job at Intel “or some other semiconductor giant”.

“I eventually want to also end up back in the classroom as a lecturer, hopefully educating and inspiring the next generation of thinkers,” said the young man who was also a JCDC Speech Festival gold medallist, Western Jamaica team chess champion, a 4-H Club national public speaking champion, and a recipient of a Governor General Award for Excellence.

Raimona Gowie-Roberts

“Honestly, it has been over a week since I’ve been notified that I was the awardee for the inaugural Bruce Golding Scholarship for the Sciences, and I am still in shock. I’m still so excited. I’m still so overjoyed … I wish everyone was able to feel how I’ve been feeling for the past week because it’s a pretty good feeling,” was Raimona Gowie-Robert’s reaction to an obvious Gleaner question.

She has eight grade-one CSEC passes and 10 CAPE subjects (seven grade ones). For Jamaica, she was second in CSEC food and nutrition, and sixth in CAPE information technology. At UWI Mona, shewill be majoring in chemistry and computer science “with the aim of setting the platform to become a brilliant forensic chemist and software programmer”.

“Also, in about five to 10 years, I hope to have garnered a master’s degree in forensics … Also, I would like to set up foundations that will give back to the communities especially in the area of education,” she told The Gleaner.

Gowie-Roberts, who said her mother, Viveth Hutchinson, has been her “biggest motivator”, described herself as a “social volunteer”, a person who “devotes himself or herself to assisting others in their community any which way they can, whether by spending time with them to impart knowledge or hosting a treat to celebrate together as a community.

Demar Brown

Hailing from Westmoreland, Demar Brown, the former head boy at Belmont Academy, in the said parish, like Raimona, is the first in his family to attend university.

“It’s feels like I’m breaking generational barriers, defying the odds and taking the limits off what is possible. I’m writing my own story, not defined by circumstances, but instead by choices,” he told The Gleaner.

He has chosen to pursue a degree in computer science at UTech, where he arrived with nine CSEC subjects (six grade ones), seven CAPE subjects (two grade ones) and NCTVET’s qualifications in data operations and business administration.

The mentor and peer tutor is a Savanna-la-Mar Rotary Club youth leadership awardee, who has also copped the first JLP Sir Alexander Bustamante Computer Science Scholarship. “I am beaming with joy having received this scholarship,” he said.

The scholar, who is a former president of Boys On A Mission, a mentorship group that “is concerned with the holistic development of young men”, also said, “I hope more young people will trust the process and work hard even in the face of uncertainty, and reap the rewards of their investments … I’m eager to use the skills I will attain during my study to improve the Caribbean and, by extension, the world.”