MANDEVILLE, Manchester — The technical and vocational training entity HEART Trust/NTA is reporting that its south- west region’s November 2013 graduating class numbered 1,700, the biggest ever in the region.

The organisation says students from Manchester, Clarendon and St Elizabeth were trained in a range of areas, including agriculture, construction, education, health care, hospitality, and general services.

Also, for the first time, 19 Electrical Inspection Level 4 candidates were awarded the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ).

Many graduates missed the official graduation ceremony held at Northern Caribbean University. However, those present were urged to go forth and change the nation.

Career strategist and motivational speaker Glenford Smith told his audience that the “heartbeat” of success lay in the individual’s ability to be the best.

While imploring the graduates to enjoy their moment of success, Smith cautioned that graduation can sometimes be the “beginning of sorrows”.

He explained that “some of the things you’re hoping for, you may not get immediately. But if you’re equipped in your mind with certain tools… you can say with confidence [that] weeping may last for a while, but joy will come in the morning”.

Senior director of workforce development and employment division at the HEART Trust, Denworth Finnikin, told the graduates to use the value system shared with them at HEART, not just to improve themselves economically, but to make Jamaica a better place.