WHILE many young people dream of becoming doctors, lawyers and teachers, Rasheed Habib’s dream is to create growth in the Jamaican economy through agriculture.

His quiet personality and his sense of style no indication that the young, slim and what many young women would consider handsome Habib is willing to get his hands dirty. However his passion is agriculture in its various forms.

From a young age, Habib said that he knew his passion lied in agriculture and now it is his belief that he can make a difference in Jamaica by pursuing his passion.

The St Mary High School past student wants to become an agricultural engineer with the hope of creating strategies for agricultural production to be much cheaper in Jamaica.

Habib’s only setback is finance, but he is not giving up. The 19-year-old from Islington, St Mary wants to attend Earth University in Costa Rica and so is hoping to win a scholarship to study there.

Habib, who was an active 4H clubbite at St Mary High told the Jamaica Observer that his biggest dreams are in agriculture, which includes owning a farm.

He has no doubt he will be able to achieve his objectives, following his major accomplishments so far.

Habib, a past cadet warrant officer at St Mary High, scored distinctions in Unit Two of the CAPE 2014 chemistry and environmental science examinations and credits in biology and Caribbean studies. This comes after a great performance in Unit One; he passed four subjects in that unit in 2013 with a distinction in communication studies. The former cadet leader said that he is happy with his accomplishment.

“So far I feel proud, I will keep striving for excellence,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Habib, whose main interest is agriculture, said that he intends to bring something new to the table.

“I want to bring a twist to agriculture in Jamaica because we presently promote ‘eat what you grow and grow what you eat’, but Jamaican products are expensive (compared to similar products from other countries). I would like to become an agricultural engineer to develop certain strategies to reduce the cost of products in Jamaica,” said Habib, who is also a past student of Iona High School.

Apart from being an engineer and working to make production in Jamaica more viable, Habib also dreams of owning his own business.

“I dream of owning a big farm,” he said.

Growing up in a farming community and around a father who is a farmer and businessman, the teen has had a love for farming from an early age. However, for him, it is more than a community or family activity, it is a passion.

“I wanted to do this from ever since,” he explained, highlighting that it was more than a family or community influence.

Presently, Habib is a part of a nutritional club in Ocho Rios, where the young man has put his entrepreneurial abilities to work and has also been doing something he believes in, preserving health.

While he does that, he patiently waits to be accepted at the Earth University with the hope of winning a scholarship so that he too can make his contribution to Jamaica.