HJ: Simone, what can you tell us about your early life, where you were born, early school, and what you enjoyed doing as a child?

 

ST: I was born in St Thomas, and I went to Grants Pen Primary school. As a child I think what I enjoyed the most was reading and writing. I liked English Language to a great extent. I grew up as any ordinary child. I lived in a nuclear family for some time, then my parents broke up, and I lived with my aunt. She had a great positive influence on my life growing up. For her it was always God, education and family, in that order. A lot of who I have become I owe to her.

 

Also, my mother and father (though they broke up and lived separately) had a big influence on me. I can say, I wasn't short on positive influences growing up.

 

Fun fact, I lived literally 5 minutes from school for my entire high school tenure. So, I could wake up 7:30 and reach school for 7:55 AM! (laugh). 

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HJ: What years did you attend MBHS and what are some of your lasting memories of those years?

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ST: I started MBHS in 2008, and I graduated in 2015. One of my most lasting memories was when we created the MBHS Newsletter. It was important to me because that is when I started to cultivate some leadership skills and disciplines which went on to help me in university. Another lasting memory is starting Morant Bay High Schools Finest. The same group of students that started the newsletter decided to introduce a pageant competition and that taught me so much about entrepreneurship, event planning and things of that nature.      

         

One other thing that I want to highlight from my years at MBHS  is just how invested our teachers were in our personal development and not just  our formal education. I remember particularly our CAPE History class. As much as it was about History, it was also about our personal development, our growth and preparing us for what was ahead.

 

A number of teachers contributed toward our overall, holistic development, not just academics. A particular teacher motivated me to be involved in some clubs, and I found after high school the importance of having that rounded mindset, that it’s not just about getting good grades. It’s about holistic development. That was very important for me to learn, though I didn’t apply it as much as I should have.

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HJ. Which teachers had the greatest impact on you at MBHS ?

 

ST: Some that made an impact were Ms. Chambers, Ms. Welcome, Ms. Morgan Marriott, Ms Diana Cross, Mrs. Hyatt, Mrs. Coates, Mrs. Hyman. Those teachers had a lasting impact on my personality and on my development. 

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HJ. Leaving school and moving on to adult life,  be it further education or the working world, is typically a tough adjustment for most people. What was your experience like in the years immediately after leaving high school?

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ST: Well I don’t think it was very hard for me to adjust to university life, particularly because I went to 6th form. You are already acclimatized to the workload of university by going through the 6th form program. I think I was well prepared to handle the workload and environment at UWI. 

However, one adjustment that I struggled to make in university was balancing my social and academic life. One of my regrets is that I focused almost exclusively on academics to the detriment of social life and networking.

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My greatest challenge was moving out of university and into the working world. Moving from a student to a professional is not an easy adjustment, nobody really prepares you for that transition that comes with the professional environment. It was definitely a learning curve for me, and it still is, but it gets easier as you learn the ropes. 

HJ: Tell us about your time as Youth Ambassador to CARICOM, the places it took you, and how that experience has impacted you.

 

ST: I was appointed CARICOM Youth Ambassador in 2017, I served a two year term. My tenure taught me a lot about what my niche passions are. Youth work is a very broad area but in being a CARICOM Youth ambassador you get to zero in on what your main areas of focus will be. I chose Youth and Adolescent Health,  Financial Literacy, Work Readiness and Entrepreneurship for young people.

Being the Youth Ambassador to CARICOM gives you the opportunity to advocate for young people to regional bodies and entities. You get to play a very significant role in the decision making process for CARICOM Youths.

 

I was invited to participate in the Caribbean Congress on Youth and Adolescent Health in Trinidad and Tobago. This was a land mark congress, the first of its kind in the Caribbean.  It brought together speakers, thinkers and practitioners in Adolescent Health not just in the Caribbean but in the world. I had the opportunity to sit at the table with representatives from the WHO, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), Pan Caribbean Partnership against HIV and Aids (PANCAP) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). I got to give my input on how I thought Youth and Adolescent Health policies should be shaped in the Caribbean. 

Before this, I participated in a steering committee conference in St. Lucia that was sponsored by PANCAP to create audio-visual messages for teenagers and young adults around safe sex and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Being a CARICOM Youth Ambassador was a rewarding experience. It’s one of the reasons that I decided to continue my involvement in youth work and community service. I ended up applying for and being employed at an International Non-Governmental Organization in Jamaica called Junior Achievement Jamaica. My efforts here are centred on preparing young people for the world of work, teaching them the skills and tools they need to become entrepreneurs and educating them about financial literacy.