An ecstatic Shae-Duvaughn Ellis, a final year student of the Bachelor of Arts in Communication Arts & Technology programme at the University of Technology, Jamaica was awarded the third annual Jamar Thelwell Memorial Scholarship at the award presentation held last Wednesday, October 25. Shae-Duvaughn was awarded $300,000 to assist her to overcome her many financial challenges, stating that she applied because “I met all the requirements, and I had lack of funding.” In spite of this, the future digital marketer has managed to attain a 3.81 G.P.A and continues to excel.
Another cash award was granted to third year student and aspiring journalist Fiona Black who received a $100,000 grant. After receiving her award, she expressed her gratefulness. “I was worried about how my school fees were going to paid, It’s like a gift,” she said. She also mentioned she was motivated to apply for the scholarship because she wanted to continue her studies without anything delaying the process “I want to get my degree, make my family proud and not take too long because I might get demotivated”.
NCB Foundation Contributes Laptops
In addition to the cash awards, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences partnered with the NCB foundation to give three other promising students hope for their academic and professional future in the form of laptop computers. Final year student Christine Rhomes received a laptop-computer as one of her many challenges was pursuing her studies without a laptop. The selection panel felt that she deserved to be alleviated from this challenge. Rhomes feels blessed as she was on the verge of quitting, but this was God telling her ‘No’. “I told my parents I wanted to finish and take a gap year. However the day after telling them I got a call to apply.”
Nykalia Stewart, a second year student, was also in receipt of a laptop-computer. She was navigating her studies without a laptop and as a a self-taught coder and lover of fashion design, this award was of great need. Stewart displayed gratitude and disbelief of the whole ordeal “It was unexpected, yet expected at the same time…even though its over, I’m still very anxious.”
Dwayne Marshall, the first and only male to benefit from this scholarship also received a laptop-computer. Marshall described this ordeal as a ‘magic moment’ and was grateful for the opportunity seeing that he has many responsibilities. His yearning for success was the main source motivation for applying for this scholarship. “It gave me the drive to participate in the application process and to just go into the interview and to give my best.”
Not only was this special occasion for the recipients, but also to honour the late Jamar Thelwell, who was a full-time BACAT lecturer from 2017 until his passing in 2020. The School of Humanities and Social Sciences, dedicates this ceremony to him because of who he was and the everlasting impact that he has had on the BACAT programme.
Reported by Noelle Robinson