A era hole however, the bond between JPS space supervisor, buyer expertise Shanique Donaldson-McIntosh and Mico College School freshman Leonie Harris has step by step advanced into a real friendship.
First got here their introductory assembly, two months in the past, at a JPS Basis mentorship workshop for shortlisted tertiary college students, the place Harris and Donaldson have been paired as mentee and mentor.
At this time, the 2 haven’t solely turn into quick pals however have found an abiding belief in one another.
‘We discovered we had quite a bit in frequent and she or he’s a really inspiring individual,’ raved the 19-year-old of the JPS senior exec.
‘When she advised me her story, it related with me as a result of it’s one thing I’m going by proper now. I’m attempting to defy the percentages, and she or he defied the percentages.’
Very like McIntosh’s upbringing (with a single mom in Kemps Hill, Clarendon), Harris, too, grew up in a female-helmed family.
The neighborhood of Brainerd, St Mary, is residence to Harris, the place her workplace attendant, dad or mum Georgia Garnett, raised the aspiring arithmetic educator alongside 5 siblings.
‘I’m a first-generation school scholar,’ the younger grownup revealed, noting her enrollment is a supply of nice pleasure amongst her family members.
‘I really feel actually good, however it may be a bit of pressuring as a result of lots of them are relying on me. Everyone desires me to do my greatest, get that diploma, and are available out on prime.’
Wanting on, 40-year-old McIntosh readily admitted that ‘I do see a youthful model of myself in Leonie, and that connection has added a deep, private layer to our mentorship.’
‘Once we discovered she knew members of my household (by neighborhood service Harris had performed in Clarendon), and that we each come from comparable beginnings, one thing clicked. Seeing her perception within the energy of training, and her quiet willpower to vary her trajectory, jogs my memory a lot of my very own journey.’
This shared background positively powers their relationship. ‘It fuels my dedication to point out up totally and remind her that the place you begin doesn’t outline the place you finish.’
Reminiscing on her personal journey, McIntosh credited training as a manner out of my circumstances.
The Glenmuir Excessive alum and former head woman stated she understood from early on, ‘whereas we [her family] didn’t have many materials sources, data was one thing nobody might take away from me. I noticed it as a bridge between the place I used to be and the place I wished to be, not simply by way of profession success, but in addition in creating selections and alternatives that didn’t appear accessible to me on the time.’
The JPS exec – who went on to graduate from the College of the West Indies (UWI), Mona with a bachelor’s in worldwide relations and a minor in political science and in social coverage and growth, lauded her mom, retired small enterprise proprietor Annette Bhoorasingh, as most instrumental in guiding her to self-actualise.
‘She taught me the worth of laborious work, self-discipline, and resilience. Watching her handle a lot with so little confirmed what energy actually appears to be like like,’ praised Donaldson of the mom who reared each her and her elder brother Denver, a resident in Canada and a supervisor at Rogers Communications.
Eager focus and sacrifices, in line with Donaldson, have been the guideposts on the trail to success.
‘My mom fiercely believed in training. After I was finding out at evening, although she didn’t know what I used to be doing, or couldn’t assist me, she would burn the midnight oil with me and made many sacrifices to make sure that I had the whole lot I wanted for college. She had a bar and grocery store constructed by the home, and to this present day, I’m in awe she was capable of make ends meet.’
The pushed vitality firm supervisor, who obtained a Grasp’s diploma in governance and public coverage from UWI in 2010, summed up her academic pursuits thusly: ‘I knew I wasn’t simply studying for myself, I used to be studying for my household and an opportunity to assist others like Leonie in the future.’
For Harris, presently in the midst of semester-ending exams at Mico, the motivation to attend the Marescaux Highway school lay with ‘my two aunts who’re at the moment academics…one teaches language and the opposite visible arts. I’m impressed by them and the way passionate they’re about what they do.’
She is immensely grateful for Shanique’s presence in her life in the intervening time.
‘I actually love the connection that I’ve along with her. To have the ability to obtain suggestions from any person within the grownup and dealing worlds, I actually admire that, and she or he offers me lots of recommendation,’ Harris revealed.
The budding besties, inside simply the final two months, have developed a straightforward rapport over McIntosh’s invite to the workplace, cafe, and restaurant lunch dates, female-empowerment workshops, and most not too long ago, a visit to Expo Jamaica.
‘She holds actually good conversations,’ provided Harris, of what she is most impressed by in her mentor.
‘Whereas I’m an introvert, I really love speaking to individuals. Shanique is a really articulate speaker, and I wish to turn into a greater speaker. Once we went to the Expo and she or he was chatting with her son Adam, I cherished the way in which that when he requested a query, she was capable of formulate a considerate response.’
Charging forward, with three years left to finish her diploma, Harris stated, in contrast to most of her friends in class, she doesn’t harbour an curiosity in looking for employment in a classroom abroad.
‘I don’t see myself working outdoors of Jamaica as a result of lots of my classmates, as quickly as they get their levels, have stated they’re going overseas. Even now, I’m enthusiastic about which faculty I’m going to show at in Jamaica,’ she shared.
In the meantime, in paying it ahead, McIntosh has discovered deep satisfaction within the firm of her mentee. ‘A key aim for me is to assist Leonie embrace a development mindset. The idea that skills and intelligence will be developed with effort, studying, and persistence. On this fast-paced setting, it’s simple to really feel discouraged by setbacks or overwhelmed by challenges. I need to assist her in seeing these moments not as failures, however as helpful stepping stones to development.’
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