Simpson, Barrett welcome APS scholarships
St George’s College’s star point guard Jaheem Simpson and the multi-talented Deshawn Barrett, who plays rugby and lacrosse, were the recipients of scholarships from Alternative power Sources’ (APS) owner and STGC old Boy Damian Lyn, to cover the cost of their tuition for the year.
Simpson, a sixth former, has been doing well in academics and sports since entering the school, receiving three silver seal awards and one bronze for literature, math and metal work between second and third form, while representing the school at the Under-14 and Under-16 levels in basketball.
He will be moving to the Under-19 level in the upcoming season and expressed delight at the scholarship award.
“It is a wonderful feeling, knowing that I was considered the opportunity to benefit from this scholarship and I am certain, I’m the perfect candidate. I maintain good grades and achieved several awards such as, placing first in fourth form, as well as graduating second in my class and getting seven of my eight subjects. I also desire to do more subjects outside of school to extend my career field,” Simpson shared.
Barrett, who is also a sixth former, is certain that the scholarship will help him to overcome the immediate challenges of life.
“My community is known to be a ghetto, the slum where there is a stigma that no one will ever come out to be someone of good character. That motivates me to work harder every day to make sure that I will never yield to that stigma.
“My aim is to complete the lower-six level and move on to upper six, passing with remarkable grades. I will attend The University of the West Indies or The University of Technology to pursue studies in accounting, as I am aspiring to be a successful Accountant,” Barrett declared.
Barrett believes that with the mental burden of financing his sixth form education being removed, he will better focus on achieving his career goals.
“This scholarship is very important to me because it will make a tremendous difference in my education and my career choices. It will allow me to further my education in a more suitable and profitable field that provides higher salaries than a course my parents would be able to afford,” he reasoned.
“This opportunity will give me the chance to focus on my education instead of focusing on the struggles my parents would face in paying for college or repaying a student loan. By removing financial barriers, scholarships will make education and career goals easier to obtain and reduces the risk of dropping out and missing out on the career goals I really need,” Barrett added.
For Lyn the motivation was to contribute to the North Streetbased school that gave him so much as a student and was happy with the two recipients.
“Having met the boys and talking with them, I am really satisfied with the selection. They are both bright and humble individuals, who are clearly motivated. Their grades and their disciplinary records are also very good, so I am convinced the teachers made the right choice in selecting these two,” said Lyn.
St George’s College has been one of the top performing schools in both basketball and lacrosse.