THE annual UWI Mona Presentation of Graduates Ceremonies will take on a new dimension come October 29 and 30 as the first cohort of graduates from among the CB Group UWI 5K scholarship recipients will be presented.

A total of seven scholarship recipients will be awarded with their degrees with six of the seven being awarded with first-class honours. The six are Latoya Duffus, Alfred Fullwood, Isha Levy, Clifton Thompson, Orlando Smith and Kerry-Ann Williams.

The initiative was started in 2012 when the UWI sought new ways of generating funds for student development in the form of scholarship awards.

The first graduating cohort from amongst the recipients is now a testament to the worthiness of the initiative, as it continues to be a much needed source of revenue to aid students’ financial conditions providing them with the opportunity to pursue tertiary education.

Elizabeth Buchanan-Hind, Executive Director for the Institutional Advancement Division in the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and head of the organising committee, is particularly pleased that a number of the initial beneficiaries of the CB Group UWI 5K scholarship have completed their degrees and will be looking forward to achieving other goals.

“We started the CB Group UWI 5K as a means to offer aid to students who were in need of financial support. Since the genesis of the initiative in 2012, we have awarded 75 scholarships to students pursuing their tertiary degrees and this is our first cohort of graduates from the programme.

“Words cannot express how proud I am of how well they handled the pressure of being a scholarship recipient and to see six of seven graduating with first-class honours is just an amazing feat,” said Buchanan-Hind. St Jago High School past student and Spanish Town native, Orlando Smith, is one of the beneficiaries who has earned himself a first-class Honours Degree in Pharmacology.

Smith described the CB Group UWI 5K scholarship as a much needed financial boost and one which has set him on a path to achieve his goal of becoming a medical doctor.

“I was in a tough financial situation heading into my final year and I applied for the scholarship out of hope. When I was awarded, I had the financial help that I needed, as without the scholarship I would be unable to sit my exams and complete my degree,” said Smith.

Orlando Smith will graduate in the top two of the Basic Medical Sciences Department in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. The 23- year-old is currently in his first year of the MBBS programme to become a medical doctor.