TWENTY-one-year-old graduate of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Sade Johnson counts herself lucky.

Unlike hundreds of her batch mates, she had not one, but two job opportunities before graduating last November.

“I consider myself lucky because I got an internship at the Jamaica Tourist Board immediately after completing my exams at UWI in May. Shortly after I started my internship programme, I received a phone call that Island Routes in St James wanted me for a job interview. Because I had to travel from Kingston to St James, I was late for the interview, but I still went and I got the job,” Johnson said.

Johnson holds a bachelor’s (first class honours) in tourism management. Two Thursdays ago, on January 14, she received the Mona School of Business & Management prize for Tourism Management for accumulating the highest Grade Point Average in the programme for 2015. She was among some 40 graduates who were thus recognised by the Faculty of Social Sciences during its annual awards ceremony.

Speaking with Career & Education post award, Johnson acknowledged the difficulty many graduates have landing jobs. But, she said, graduates have to be determined and “willing to go the distance”.

“I am from Harbour View in Kingston. After I got the permanent job offer in St James as an administrative assistant for the vice-president of sales at Island Routes, I had to literally jump up and go. I really never had much time. I found a place a week before I should have started the job. I literally begged my mother and father to take me to Montego Bay to move there. I’ve never lived in Montego Bay or stayed in Montego Bay. I had no clue about the city, but I was determined,” she told Career & Education.

Eight months later, she is still trying to adjust to her new environment, but with no regrets.

“It’s different. You don’t feel the hustle or bustle like in the capital city, but I knew this would have happened though. I knew what I was getting myself into, because jobs for my degree would more likely be outside of Kingston, and in the tourist resort areas, and that’s what many university students need to become aware of before pursuing their degree programmes. They need to know where the jobs which are in accordance with their degree programme are. It’s not wise to do something like tourism management which I did, and [not expect to leave] Kingston,” Johnson said.

She scored six ones and two twos in the Caribbean Secondary Certificate Education exams while at Holy Childhood High, but confessed she wasn’t always as dedicated as she could have been. But things changed for the better when she started UWI.

“Learning Spanish was a real struggle for me. I had to do Spanish as part of my degree programme and I struggled from beginner into the special hospitality Spanish. Spanish brought down my GPA in the first year. From then, I started focusing and I made the honour role three times following that at UWI,” she said.

“I’m so happy to know that my hard work has finally paid off and I am reaping goodness from what my family and I have invested in,” Johnson.

“The dream I see for myself. I know I don’t want to be average. Careerwise, given that I am in tourism, I hope in my future my career will expand into one which travelling around the world is apart of it,” she said.