SHAVEL Scarlett believes pursuing a university degree is the only thing that will rescue her from poverty.

As much as she wanted to attend university, however, the chances were slim, for though she graduated from Rusea’s High School with eight Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) units and eight Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects, her family told her they could not afford to send her further.

But the 19-year-old got a lifeline last week when she was awarded a COURTS Customer Tertiary Level Scholarship valued at $200,000 for the upcoming academic year.

“I feel kind of overwhelmed because this doesn’t only do much for me, but much for my parents. It has taken a lot of their burden off to send my brother and I to university at the same time,” she said.

Scarlett explained that she and her older brother Fabian applied to the University of the West Indies, Mona, for this academic year. They both got accepted — he for a degree in business management and she for psychology — but their parents couldn’t afford to send them both at the same time.

“I never lost hope though, she told Career & Education. “My sister-in-law told me of the COURTS scholarships and encouraged me to apply. So I wrote about my life, my hardships and my experiences and submitted it to the Hanover branch and I am now a scholarship recipient,” the elated young woman added.

Scarlett lives with her mother, Camarene Moodie, a sister, two brothers, four cousins and her niece in Blenheim, Hanover. Life for them, she said, has been no bed of roses. To support the family, her mother works a farm and sells her surplus in the market.

“I also had to comb others’ hair to earn money to send myself to school. It was not easy,” she added.

Scarlett intends on becoming a counsellor.

“What has pushed me to study psychology is the community I am from. There, they do not see education as important because they have many alternative means. I chose this degree so that I can judge them critically, analyse their behaviours and help them to change. That’s what pushed me to make the decision to pursue a degree in psychology,” Scarlett said.

“I want to make a difference in my community. I want to be a positive role model to others in my community as well as make my parents proud,” she said.