DEMETRI Blackwood is on an upward climb.

The 18-year-old, who grew up in the Kingston inner-city community of Marl Road, hasn’t let his family’s social status hold him back, and today, after receiving several scholarships, he is now in Flint, Michigan, at Kettering University completing a pre-college programme before he returns to Jamaica to complete his sixth-form education at Wolmer’s Boys’.

“Depending on my performance, I could get a full scholarship to attend Kettering [for college],” he told Career & Education.

Blackwood first received a Scotia Foundation scholarship to attend Camperdown High when he sat his GSAT examinations a few years ago. Other scholarships were to follow, for the young man who is being exposed to calculus, physics, chemistry, computer programming and economics at the university level, which should set him apart from his peers when he returns to sixth form in September.

“You had to be doing well in school and be from the inner city, so I was approached,” he said, explaining that the scholarship opportunity came through Wolmer’s, who made the offer through the Academically Interested Minds (AIM) programme run by Kettering.

“I got three quarters of the money through a scholarship granted to me from the interview based on my academic and interview skills, and Scotia Foundation gave me the next quarter,” he explained.

Eyes set on becoming either a chemical or bio-medical engineer, Blackwood said he has never been hindered by the fact that his mother was mentally ill and his father, Raphael, was the sole breadwinner for the family.

Blackwood said his intention is to inspire young people.

“I want other young people to look and see that as a young man from the inner city you can live out your dream. Many of them just think of dreams but don’t act on it and can’t get out of their situation and I want to correct that wrong,” he said.

For Blackwood, winning the college scholarship to Kettering would be a dream come true.

“Winning the scholarship to attend Kettering would be a way to let them know I did it, things can work out, and dreams can actually come true if you work on them,” he said.

“I cannot not give back. That is of paramount importance to me. Scotia gave to me when I needed it. In the future if I can donate money to the fund I will not hesitate, because it helps people who are disadvantaged.”

— Kimberley Hibbert