THREE Jamaican students, including a Jamaica Observer writer, were this summer selected to participate in an entrepreneurship programme at the top-ranked public university in the world, University of California, Berkeley. The students — Merl Grove High School past student Tamoyah Cherrington, and two students from Wolmer’s Boys’ School Delmar Francis and former headboy Aldane Walters — were among a select international cohort of 50 students to participate in the Berkeley Business Academy for Youth (BBAY): High School Entrepreneurship Session hosted by the Haas School of Business at the university.

BBAY is a two-week intensive business programme, where participants learn the basics of entrepreneurship from top university lecturers in a university setting, while working in teams of five on their own business models for a final showcase that is streamed live around the world. The topics spanned the gamut of starting a business, from conceptualising to acquiring capital to marketing to expansion, among other topics.

Programme Director Olive Davis said it was a rigorous selection process. She visited a total of 49 schools and one church in Jamaica in January of this year and interviewed applicants. Nine were short-listed and invited to apply, after which the top three were selected.

“The process was based on what I felt the students could offer to the programme, their report card, and how they interviewed. The programme was very challenging, so I needed to make sure the student would not fail. I also had to make sure that the students would take something away from the programme,” she expalined.

The students were each awarded scholarships which covered all expenses associated with their participation.

Cherrington told the Jamaica Observer that her initial interest in the programme was to get a taste of the university experience. For Walters, who writes for the Observer, it was to be exposed to another option before deciding on a course of study at the tertiary level. Francis, meanwhile, said that BBAY provided the perfect opportunity for him to get one step closer to his career goal.

“I always wanted to know more in the realm of business because I always wanted to generate revenue in some sort of way because my family isn’t from a rich background. So getting this opportunity to know business from inside out, to know to how to work in a team, to know when to be a leader or when not to be a leader, it was really great and I know that this is the tool that I am going to use to further my knowledge in business,” he said.

And having gone through it successfully, the students speak highly of the programme and are brimming with lessons learnt.

“This programme gave me another view of life,” said Cherrington. “I remember when we had to stay up late in the night to get the work done. That is not what I am used to in high school. I realised that true success came from your willingness to do what is necessary to get where you need to be.”

Francis told Career & Education: “My highlight was the programme’s ability to formulate teamwork and leadership skills based on day-to-day simple activities. Based on the fact that we are high school students, we had young minds, so sitting in a classroom every day would not bring us to a place where we needed to be, so when we did simple activities like building the tallest fort, that brought out leadership and team-building capabilities.”

“One of the greatest things I’ve learned from this is that sometimes your idea is not necessarily

the idea,” said Walters. “In a team, you have to listen to your teammates and it is the contribution of everybody that will determine what is great. And also just having a measure to test how valuable your idea is. You might think you have the greatest business idea in the world, but unless you apply those basic business concepts, it could really mean nothing, or it could be everything.”

He won the coveted Director’s Golden Bear Award, and his team placed third overall.

“The programme expanded our way of thinking; thinking outside the proverbial box, and it showed in the showcase. There were so many innovative ideas,” Walters continued.

The Jamaican students said marketing, finance, and game theory were among their favourite courses, while accounting was among their least favourite.

Outside of their academic input, the students said that they had a positive influence on their international peers.

“They were always worrying, so I would show them to just relax and pray. I taught them not to procrastinate,” said Francis.

“Yes, we showed them how to get the work done, not just have long discussions and also brought our language, teaching them a little patois ouside of class,” Cherrington added.

Walters said that the Caribbean presence, though small in number, was very visible.

“It seems like everywhere we go, we dominate. For example, my group was called The JamAsians and there was a young man named Luke from Trinidad, whose group was called The Trinidaddies. Secondly, we just have an energy and a vibe that no one else has; when you speak, everyone looks around. We were doers and not just sayers, and of course our Caribbean perspective were all things we contributed,” he said.

According to the students, the programme taught much more than academics. They pointed to lessons in responsibility, and tolerance for the multiplicity of backgrounds, ideologies and personalities that exist in the world.

Asked about how they could transfer the knowledge and exposure to Jamaica’s benefit, the trio said they were confident they could make a difference in the island.

“I don’t think I had a real world view until the programme. Before, being [in Jamaica], I am taught in a local and, at best, regional context. But when you go to the programme, all the professors and teachers’ assistants were talking about were these international companies. They didn’t speak of things in terms of America, they spoke of things in terms of the world. It’s now knowing to think about things on a global scale; to think of yourself as a global citizen so you can aim for higher and better. Being exposed to life in the context of the world also made us value what is uniquely Jamaican, because although we are expanding our minds, what is uniquely ours can make a difference on the global scale,” Walters argued.

Added Francis: “It showed me that there is always room for better, for expansion, for growth. It showed me that it is possible to help grow my country, because I am seeing that this is lacking in Jamaica… what can I do to improve my country and how can I go about it.”

After the session, which ran from July 23 to July 6, the students were treated to one week of cultural immersion, in which they visited Hollywood and some culturally relevant sites. They also had to give back, acting as peer leaders for a group of Chinese students who enrolled in the programme after them. There, Francis’ team placed first, while Cherrington’s was second.

Davis, who is herself Jamaican, said she was impressed by the Jamaican students.

“I couldn’t have chosen three better students,” she told Career & Education. “I think the three students that I chose were the perfect three students for the initial invitation to Jamaica. I think they represented themselves well, represented Jamaica well, represented me well, and I couldn’t ask for more.”

For their part, the students, who Davis said are now ambassadors for the programme, also praised Davis.

“A huge thank you to Ms Olive Davis. She designed this programme excellently and it is benefiting kids around the world. Thanks too to the donor; the professors at Haas and the Haas School of Business; the teachers’ assistants Tara Aranha and Isaiah Dolcee; peer leaders; resident assistants, especially Kyra Canty; and all the other students,” they said.

This was the first year of the scholarship programme for Jamaicans to attend BBAY, but Hillel Academy past student Kendall Todd participated in the summer programme two years ago.

— Aldane Walters & Josimar Scott