YOU’LL see his face if you’re driving along North Sound Road in George Town, Cayman Islands — a huge smile on a huge billboard.

Jamaican Lloyd Lionel Barker is the winner of that government’s 2014 ‘Proud Of Them’ award, one of the highest awards a young person in that small island can receive for leadership and excellence in academics.

Schooled at Vaz Prep, this former Harbour View resident left Jamaica in 1999 with his mother Antoinette Powery. And Barker, 21, credits the Jamaican school system for laying a solid foundation for him which he built on after migrating.

“I had great opportunities starting at basic school in Jamaica, to Vaz Preparatory School, then moving on to schooling and living in the Cayman Islands. After I migrated to the Cayman Islands, I returned to Jamaica each summer until the end of grade seven for summer classes,” Barker, who now lives in West Bay, told Career & Education.

In addition to this recent award, Barker has been awarded numerous others, too many to fit on his résumé.

“I received a Senior Music Award for excellence in music. In 2011, I was awarded a local scholarship from the Cayman Islands government to attend the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI), where I completed one year in the economics programme. During my first year, I maintained honours, being placed on the President’s List each semester and selected as a ‘UCCI High Flier’ for a local magazine.

“During the spring 2012 semester at UCCI, I won the 50/50 Caribbean Conference Research Paper Competition in the Tertiary Level category for a paper entitled, ‘Pride Fosters Success’, speaking about the way patriotism, nationalism, and independence can all promote success in particular Caribbean nations.”

After completing his first year at UCCI, he transferred to Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.

“I received an international scholarship from the Cayman Islands government and an additional scholarship from Maples and Calder, a leading international law firm that is based in the Cayman Islands,” he explained.

“After completing my first two years at Carleton University between 2012 and 2014, I received ‘Good Standing’ reviews — the highest reviews one can receive from the university — and was awarded the Clarence C Gibson Scholarship after the first year, then the A Davidson Dunton Scholarship after the second year.”

He is currently on the Dean’s List at Carlton University, where he will, in September, start his fourth year pursuing a bachelor of arts degree with a major in law and a minor in communication studies.

The secret to his success, he said, is simply hard work, discipline and determination.

“Ever since primary school years, all I have been known to do and have been doing is applying myself and working hard. That approach to my engagements brings me great satisfaction. I graduated from high school with honours in 2011 and as the valedictorian of my class,” he said.

He said his goal is to enter the field of law.

“My dream is to be a practising lawyer, eventually establishing my own firm,” he said.