Mother, daughter graduate from UWI with law degrees

Some people believe that a mother is a daughter's best friend, and this has certainly been the case for 22-year-old Danielle Johnson, who, on Saturday, graduated alongside her mother, Julian Redwood-Johnson, from The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona.

As the two spoke with The Gleaner on Sunday and recalled their shared university experience, their love, care, and compassion for each other was clear, as was their close-knit relationship that had grown stronger over the years.

Both crossed the illustrious graduation stage to collect their bachelor's degrees in law for which they both received upper second-class honours, sharing many similar experiences to reach that milestone.

The journey began coincidentally similar, though in different times as Redwood-Johnson graduated from Ardenne High School in St Andrew in the class of 1991, while her daughter graduated in 2017.

After seven years of high school, Johnson initially applied to the Caribbean School of Media and Communication (CARIMAC) at UWI with the intention of becoming a journalist. Her family members, nevertheless, saw that her potential could be actualised in a different profession, believing that she was more suited to study law.

As a result, Johnson was steered towards law school, a decision she has not regretted, as she says she grew to love the discipline.

In her younger years, Redwood-Johnson earned her first degree in computer science with a minor in mathematics at the University of Technology, Jamaica. She later went on to teach both subjects for 15 years.

With the assistance of her husband, the Reverend Phillip Johnson, pastor of Fingers from the Heart Ministries, she later established her own institution, Solid Base Group of Schools, based in Spanish Town, St Catherine.

“When I looked back on my Ardenne yearbook and I showed it to Danielle as well ... the editor put there (under the 'likely to be in the future' slot) lawyer ... so I believe that even at that time going to school, everybody though that, that would be my career path as well,” Redwood-Johnson recalled as that which sparked her to pursue the degree.

Her daughter started applying to numerous colleges, some of which were overseas, and Redwood-Johnson thinking that Danielle's “leaving the nest” would be a great opportunity to fulfil her own ambitions, had applied to UWI before her daughter.

SO EXCITED

When she received her acceptance letter to UWI in April, she did not inform Johnson because she believed that her daughter would attend a foreign university to which she had been accepted.

However, when she learned soon after that Johnson had decided to stay in Jamaica to attend UWI, she broke the news of her own acceptance as well.

“She said okay, she was so excited. She said 'no problem, let's go' and so we just went ahead,” said Redwood-Johnson of her daughter's excitement to take on university life with her mother.

They took many classes together and would frequently run into each other on the campus.

“It was so strange because we've never sat together, we hardly study together and when I was on campus with my friends ... and I used to call to her, she used to avoid me,” Johnson recalled jokingly.

“But the good thing for me was that when I was on campus and she was on campus I know that I never had to spend no lunch money so that went great for me,” she continued in amusement.

As they occasionally engaged in friendly competition while studying and preparing for exams, their bond grew stronger as Johnson especially appreciated those moments which later served as motivation for them both to perform at their best and put their all into every assignment and exam they had to complete.

“She definitely helped me more than I helped her,” she added.

Redwood-Johnson said: “The competition was always good and as a mother I always want her to get more than me.”

Despite having separate class schedules, the two have maintained their mother-daughter journey to further their education as they continue their studies at The Norman Manley Law School at UWI.

As a non-traditional thinker and a creative at heart, Johnson stated that she did not envision herself sitting in an office, working on cases and going to court.

“I want to create a more creative space in the law,” she said of her future aims and noted that though she does not intend to teach law, she wishes to use her creative skills to convey her passion and interest in the law to others within the framework of legal education.

“The issue is that learning as a student is extremely difficult because law is seen as this boring, lame subject and people aren't inherently attracted to the idea of learning about law. So, I intend on creating a space where learning about law can be fun and can be creative and it can be modernised,” she said.

Meanwhile, Redwood-Johnson is considering specialising in family law, which deals with domestic concerns and family relations like marriage, adoption, divorce, and child custody.

Both women have expressed their appreciation for the support they have received from their church family and other relatives.

Saturday's graduation Johnson said was “a very memorable experience,” despite not getting to cross the stage together because her mother used her maiden name to obtain her degree.

“Even just walking across the stage, I think I will genuinely remember that moment for the rest of my life,” she added.

She expressed being happy that she stayed the course and made it through successfully, despite all that was happening in the world that took a toll on most individuals' mental health.

The two wish to encourage persons to pursue a tertiary education once they can as the experience is both life-changing and worthwhile and will beneficial in the future.

“It's great to get a law degree, it's great to get a degree overall but to do it with someone so close to you and to be able to go through the same things and also have that helping hand ... if you can do it with somebody else I think it's a great experience,” Johnson said.

Redwood-Johnson added that: “I just want to encourage young people, especially young girls: aspire to go to university. For older folks, mothers, don't believe that because you have a child who is 18 years old, 19 years old, your life has ended. If you have a dream, if you have aspirations to do something, especially when you have put off doing something that you want to do to nurture your children up to age 18, if you are in the position to do it, go back to school.”

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com