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-The story of a Scotiabank Scholar & Inner-city Genius- Locksley Wallace

Locksley Wallace, a 19 year old resident of the Central Village community is a true testimony that hard work, dedication and determination does pay off. This 2nd year chemical engineering student of Kettering University in Michigan is pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering while working at JPS as an intern.

His journey to success began at the White Marl Primary and Junior High School and was one of hardship and struggle. Living in a small house with only one bed, he, his mother and six other siblings made it work. He recalls missing only about three days of primary school even though his mother who was unemployed the whole time. However, she secured all the money she had to ensure he attended school everyday. Whenever they could not afford it, his elder sister Josephine the only contributor at the time made a lot of sacrifices to send him to school. Even with her help, he recalls only getting one textbook throughout his whole duration at primary school.

Preparing for the GSAT exam he was determined to put his best foot forward. He studied early in the mornings when everyone in his home was asleep just to get the peace and quiet he needed. His hard work paid off when he was awarded a prestigious scholarship from the Scotiabank Jamaica Foundation to attend Kingston College. His families’ worries about school fees, books and other academic material were over. The Scotiabank scholarship paid his school fee, uniforms and text books for seven years of high school.

Being a Scotiabank scholar, he got the opportunity to interact with other students who were undergoing similar hardships and this motivated him even more. He was also mentored and received exposure to the world of work at the Bank. Determined to keep making his mother proud, he sat 10 subjects in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Council (CSEC) examinations and was overjoyed when he received 10 distinctions. These subjects included English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geography, Social Studies, Information Technology and French. When asked what motivated him, he said “My motivation to excel is my family. Seeing the constant struggle and economic challenges they had to endure to make sure I was provided for and received a good education constantly motivates me to strive for excellence. I want to have the opportunity to in turn take care of them, show how much I appreciate their sacrifices, and help them to live a comfortable life.”

After his excellent performance in the CSEC exams in fifth form, Locksley was then promoted to six form where he was introduced to a pre-college program at Kettering University. He took the entrance exams and voila! Even though at the time he was aspiring to get into medical school at the University and had all the qualifications to do so, he decided to take up the opportunity to study chemical engineering overseas. Lockley has been competing with some of the brightest minds from across the globe, however, he retains his high standards, he has been placed second out of his class of thirty two students. At Kettering, Locksley has an active social life and partakes in a number of clubs and societies. Despite this busy schedule, he still manages to maintain a constant 3.9 GPA average every term.

Every victor faces challenges once in a while and he is no different. Being away from home he sometimes gets homesick and experiences social issues such as racial prejudice. He remains undaunted though and is determined to not become distracted or swayed. His guiding philosophy is to do everything you do to the best of your ability no matter how small the task. An avid Seventh Day Adventist, he also believes in trusting God and believes in the mantra “Ask and it shall be given unto you”, Matthew 7:7.

In return for the great support he has received thus far, Locksley’s aspiration is to help poor youngsters from disadvantages communities like the one he comes from. “There are so many talented young men and women in these communities; but only a few people are interested and willing to work with them, all they need is the opportunity to shine. You also have successful people from these communities who turn their backs and forget where they are coming from. Until we end this selfishness and begin to help each other we will continue to have the problems”.

His advice to other youngsters is “believe in yourself and trust in God. Telling yourself you are not good enough is the first step to failure. Work hard at your goals; the dictionary is the only place where success comes before work. Everything in life takes practice even being lazy. So work hard to achieve your goals.” He adds that you will indeed achieve….success from humble beginnings.