TEACHING foreign languages in the United States, her students call her miss, señorita or mademoiselle, and that’s something that warms her heart.

Jonnea Kirlew said it’s a testament that she is no longer a small rose surrounded by the thorns of gunshots that used to ring out, shaking her zinc fences.

Coming from humble beginnings, 25-year-old Kirlew who hails from The Valley, a community located in Mount Salem, St James, gets emotional when she reflects on the years that have passed.

Kirlew, also an author, grew up with her parents and two younger brothers in a “big yard”. She shared a room with her parents until she got one for herself, and later, had to share that room with her brothers. She told the Jamaica Observer that from a very young age she was determined to become a “woman of value”.

“Some days, it still does not feel real. I take great pride because there was once a time when everything negative was attached to young girls from the inner city, and so many of those names are hurtful to our promising lives. So, instead, we should speak grace, purpose, and life into the lives of all children. I spent well over 18 years of my life with my parents and two younger brothers, with dreams and aspirations in search of a brighter future,” she said.

“In truth, I did not want to conform to what was expected of young girls from the inner city. Still, I was no stranger to certain societal factors — including crime and violence and poverty which, for many of us, is very hard to overcome because everywhere you turn, it stares at you. I learned to control the narrative of my life from an early age when I discovered the art of dreaming, which is to create a mindset in which you think big and achieve big,” she shared.

Kirlew told the Sunday Observer that her world was first “enlightened’ when she started attending Praise Chapel Kindergarten, where she was dubbed a “great, big bundle of potential”. She then moved on to Mount Salem Primary and Junior High, which was renamed Mount Salem Primary, because her parents could not afford Praise Chapel Preparatory.

Afterwards, she transitioned to Rusea’s High School.

“Here, I definitely can say that I was hungry for success; I needed more than the zinc fences and gunshots. I worked extremely hard to ensure I was always one of the top achievers in my class, and school. I graduated high school with the eight subjects that I did in CSEC [Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate],” she recalled.

Crime also fueled her fire to excel and get out of the community.

“I could have died on multiple occasions, staring into the nozzles of guns and having knives held in my waist by unidentified people,” she said.

Upon graduating she went on to sixth form where she passed four units of CAPE [Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination] subjects. Kirlew told the Sunday Observer that she then took the boldest and best decision of her life, and that was attending Shortwood Teachers’ College to pursue a bachelor’s degree in education, not knowing how exactly the fees would be paid.

“This was a shock to my family as it was never a topic of discussion, but it was enough to give hope and set ablaze conversations. It was a dream, one that would eradicate my problems and provide blocks to build a stronger foundation to break family cycles. I just knew that I needed to be able to take care of my family, especially my two brothers. Divinely, and with the efforts of my parents, I became a first generation to attend college.”

She graduated with upper first class honours.

“This experience has ripened so many opportunities, which included a mandatory Immersion Programme to Panama. I made sure I took full advantage of the programme by practising my Spanish-speaking abilities.”

Kirlew recalled multiple occasions on which she tried to obtain assistance from an “esteemed individual”, but the many calls were “put on hold with hopes of returning and the letter was never responded to. Understandably, we get busy, but I want to shed light to the brilliant minds of the inner city as they exist. We too deserve a fighting chance, a listening ear, and awards and grants”.

Poverty, she said, is a debilitating factor for trying inner-city children.

“I took care of my siblings while my parents worked. I remember saving my lunch money so I could purchase something for them to eat until my parents got home. There were also days that I gladly took the fare only and went to school and at times received PATH [Programme of Advancement through Health and Education] benefits. And days when the saving pan with a butter knife was my best friend,” she said.

“I say these things not to invoke sadness, but to display real life situations with real little humans in a real place, and to provide inspiration to anyone reading this that there is so much more to life and your greatest self awaits you. I overcame my circumstances because I wanted to… there is no guide, there is nothing special. All it takes is a child wanting more, and willing to identify strengths and actively seek after it.”

Kirlew had her first real job working at Ardenne High while she was still in college, which sometimes saw her going back and forth between Ardenne and Shortwood.

She suffered from fainting spells and when she would regain consciousness, she would have no recollection of anything prior, causing her to miss a few months in college and not completing exams.

“After college I decided to widen my horizon by accepting a job position in France, which was highly encouraged by the Modern Language Department at Shortwood. France was the country of my dream since I was 16. I lived and worked in France for almost a year, during which time I had the opportunity to travel to other countries such as Spain and Belgium, and experienced life in a beautiful way,” Kirlew told the Sunday Observer.

After the year, she returned to Jamaica to provide a hand in the raising of her brothers and to teach for two years. She said throughout that time, “My heart cared for the young girls that I would see on the streets. This led to the writing of my first book, Awakened By A Dream. It is a mirror of my life aimed at inspiring and empowering young females to know that they are worthy, deserving, and capable to do great things.”

Kirlew added that she plans to establish a foundation to help young girls in the inner city, create a grant in her name, give back to student-teachers, and obtain her masters and PhD in the near future.