A Testimonial: Getting The Help I Needed But Did Not Know Was Available

Studying, Excellence and Success (SEAS): a Project Discovery initiative, is a group of seminars that seek to help young people make better decisions in their academic and career development journeys. The Time Management seminar aids students, teachers, and parents to establish a “unique and flexible” schedule which fits and balances their lifestyle.  The Selecting a Tertiary Institution seminar provides students with knowledge and information about various educational institutions, and professional development opportunities, which are available after secondary school level. It also invites students from numerous educational institutions to share their knowledge about the tertiary institution they attended, their qualifications, experiences, challenges and triumphs, as they navigated this season of their lives.

My experience with (SEAS) is one I will never forget as I have learnt proper time management and was able to broaden my options as they relate to the tertiary level educational institutions I could pursue after graduating secondary school. Thanks to my former Mathematics teacher, Mr. Jamarri Gaskin, who strongly suggested I attend the seminar to help me determine my future and what I wanted to do while still being a student at the Parkinson Memorial School. After the seminar I took the risk and applied to the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus to further my education; during the process of applying for UWI  I was hesitant of filling out the application form and selecting a degree program that interested me as I was not at all confident that I would be accepted, despite having the qualifications to matriculate. Even though I had obtained a total of 9 CXC CSEC certificates (which exceeded the number of  CXC certificates that were needed in order to be accepted into UWI Cave hill) I could not shake my  strongly held belief at the time, that those who were able to move on from secondary school straight into university, were those who came from top schools such as Harrison College, Queen’s College, The St. Michael School etc.

Remembering all that had happened during the seminar: the stories shared by other young people, the information on institutions and their entry requirements, and other important information that was mentioned, I was encouraged to keep my head held high and believe that I deserve to have a place at this institution no matter what secondary school I had  attended. 

Fortunately, a few weeks after I submitted my application, I received the exciting and slightly surprising news that I was accepted at the UWI. It was the middle of  my final year as an upper fifth student at Parkinson Memorial.  This acceptance fueled my determination to continue to do well.         

Currently, I am a first year student and had my first face to face teaching experience on the Cave Hill campus. With the knowledge I acquired from the Time Management seminar, I was able to properly manage my time  for school work, recreational activities, business matters and personal time. Overall, my time on campus has had some ups and downs but, so far, I have been able to overcome those challenges fairly well by developing a personalised time management programme.  Thanks to that programme my semester was a success, even though it did not always go smoothly.

I would strongly recommend the PD SEAS programme to all young people, even those who are no longer in secondary school.