A heart of gratitude was Police Commissioner Antony Anderson’s wish for the 97 police officers’ children who were on Thursday awarded at the Jamaica Police Co-operative Credit Union (JPCCU) Annual GSAT Bursary and Scholarship Awards Ceremony.

In his address to the recipients at Knutsford Court Hotel, Anderson recalled his days at St Richards Primary School, as he credited a significant amount of his intellectual development to his grade six teacher, Miss Cunningham.

“People’s success, our success, my success, was thanks to other people, not thanks to me,” he said. “We do our part but without other people, who have invested in us in one way or another and have sacrificed for us, we wouldn’t achieve the success we have — so it really challenges the idea of a self-made man or woman,” he said.

“To an extent, we say that to indicate the effort that we as individuals put into success, but there is another aspect that, if you miss it, you go through life without gratitude and you ignore those people who have invested in us,“ Anderson added, recommending that the recipients and their parents read Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, a book which teaches about gratitude.

Declaring that police officers’ children were bright, Anderson commended the JPCCU for recognising the students’ success and rewarding their efforts.

He further encouraged the recipients to build on that success.

“In life you may exceed your expectations, but it’s unlikely that you will exceed your vision. So, I commend to you to have a big vision for your future. Success and failure are habit forming, so form a habit of success and have a big vision,” “Anderson advised.

The 97 recipients this year were selected from a pool of 103 applicants, and had met the criteria of having an active smart saver account with the JPCCU, as well as receiving an over 75 per cent average in GSAT.

Of the 97 recipients, 92 received bursaries from the JPCCU while 5 received scholarships totalling $75,000.

Scholarship recipient Jantje Neil, whose father, Alfred Neil, is a retired inspector, shared with the Jamaica Observer his joy in receiving one of the scholarships.

“I have one word, I really feel marvellous,” he said. “To be honest, I feel really great to be here at this function, and to know that I was one of the scholarship recipients made me feel so honoured.”

The 12-year-old young man, who received a 99.6 per cent average in GSAT and will be attending Wolmer’s Boys’ School in September, credited much of his success to his past teachers, Mr Davis and Mrs Thompson.

His mother, Natalie Neil, told the Observer that she and Jantje’s father were very proud of their son, who was selected to give the day’s vote of thanks.

“We are so proud of the fact that out of so many children, Jantje got the opportunity to say thank you, “she shared. “God has truly blessed us…Jantje has always worked really hard and him getting this award shows that in the end, your hard work will be rewarded,” she said.

Last year the JPCCU awarded $820,000 in bursaries and scholarships to 81 GSAT students.