‘My goal is to give back the best of my ability’
NCB Foundation scholarship awardee aims to bring software engineering focus to medical industry
Published:Wednesday | August 21, 2024 | 12:08 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
John-Ross Crooks is on a mission to become Jamaica’s first software engineer for bridging medical technology. It is a goal he aims to reach with his latest achievement.
He was selected alongside Joshua Newsome to receive the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation’s scholarships for 2024. Come September, Ross, a 22-year-old graduate of Calabar High School, will be pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in gaming at the University of Technology (UTech).
At completion he will launch his career in the medical industry, with hopes of transforming the way hospitals and medical centres in Jamaica do business.
“My aim is to, after I finish my gaming degree, which is geared towards software engineering, developments, language, coding, programming and game development, go and finish a degree in medical technology, because my aim is to bring that digital coding focus [and] software engineering focus into the medical industry,” Crooks told The Gleaner on Wednesday at the NCB Foundation Milestone Moments summer event held at the AC Hotel in St Andrew.
He believes such a focus would be a first for Jamaica.
“It’s a particular field that I realise is in a lot of first world countries. I got the influence from some Japanese media reports, health reports, (and) health shows as well. From that time, I’ve been doing research on how I can get into this programme, and one of my thoughts was, let’s migrate. But a lot of persons from the country have given back to me, and I took it up as my own self and as a citizen, and with my family also being here, I said, ‘Why not bring the industry here to Jamaica? And I know that would be a big leap’,” Crooks explained.
Crooks, who has a passion for youth council, youth advocacy and youth worship, says his aim is to also finalise in Jamaica a medical software that can be used buy medical practitioners, surgeons and workers to simulate medical circumstances.
DEVOTED TO GIVING BACK
He shared that the last five years has been rocky for his family, especially with the death of his father, John Crooks from colon cancer in 2019.
“I left Calabar in 2022. I had to take a gap year. Started UTech, but had to drop out for financial reasons. My father passed, so we only had one bread winner [left] in the family. My father was actually the main bread winner [given that] he made most of the money. My older brother went off to university, and then my sister as well, so the majority of sixth form, I was actually working, supporting myself through sixth form,” he said.
“In the last six month, besides volleyball, it’s been a lot of voluntary activities. In the last month, I’ve been to two camps, two I had to cancel on, and I have another camp next week. They’re all voluntary camps. They’re all geared towards youth development, mental and spiritual health. But I’ve devoted myself to give back to the community that gave back to me,” Crooks, who was the finalist for the parish of Kingston, told The Gleaner.
Crooks said he worked at a law firm during summer holidays and during the festive season, as well as a wholesale. He also did seasonal work at Immaculate Conception where his mother, Pauline Crooks, is a librarian.
A former volleyball player and athlete at Calabar High School, Crooks helped Immaculate Conception to launch its own programme.
“[Initially] I volunteered to assist, and throughout the year and after the coach left, I kept the programme going until they got a new coach,” he told The Gleaner.
He is now the part-time coach for Calabar High’s volleyball team, a job he says provides daily funds that will cover his proposed travel expenses to UTech.
EXEMPLIFIED EXCELLENCE
But why volunteer given his circumstances? Crooks says: “It’s my church, ISCF, and a few other communities that had actually supported me throughout school .. My own success is not for myself. Once I achieve anything, I find the pleasure in giving back.”
His quest for a way out led to him applying for scholarships, including the NCB Foundation scholarship.
“During my search, I realised that NCB has a very strong focus on volunteerism, community, (and) youth development. And being a member of NCB bank, and wanting the financial aid, I made the application with strong faith that I would have been able to actually qualify at one of the levels to get their awards. And making it this far to here has been a journey, a journey of anxiety, a journey of past sacrifices, but I’m glad that amongst all the ups and downs, NCB has this opportunity, and I’ve become an awardee of the opportunity,” Crooks told The Gleaner.
As for his daily motivation, he said, “It’s something that my late father had told me. He was always adamant about ‘making the best of every opportunity possible’. And the definition there is not ‘making the best of every opportunity you are given’, but ‘every opportunity possible’.”
“As an optimist, I live forward to the now of life, and the future. My goal is, as long as I still draw breath, to give back the best of my ability, the best of my resources to this country that has given so much to me,” he said.
At a time when the nation has on record girls outperforming boys in schools nationwide, Crooks and fellow awardee, Joshua Newsome, exemplified excellence over all female and male parish champions in the NCB Foundation annual scholarship applications for 2024. The young men were able to shatter that glass ceiling and emerge as champions, a first in the history of the annual scholarship distribution. The national scholarships scheme, since its inception, was intended to award a top male and female student annually, and not one overall winner, as was the case at the inception.
To commemorate the Foundation’s 16 years of educational impact, 16 persons received J$7.2 million worth of scholarships and grants. The Foundation’s Milestone Moments summer event featured interactive activities led by NCB Financial Group Chairman, Michael Lee-Chin. The programme included goal-setting exercises help awardees visualise and plan for a bright future, as well as to inspire and motivate the next generation of leaders.