TAMARA Robinson’s efforts to work odd jobs, which included waving a flag at a work site and covering night shifts to fund her tuition, were not done in vain.

The 29-year-old is now basking in pride after graduating with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from the University of West Indies, Mona, in November, after completing her studies at Brown’s Town Community College in St Ann.

“I lost both parents at an early age and I also got pregnant at age 17, so coming out of all of that as a young girl you get a bit of write-off, especially when the family you are from is not known to go further beyond high school,” she said.

“Coming from a rural community [Hammerton Alexandria in St Ann] and being a part of a rural family, the drive to seek tertiary-level education was never the main objective,” she said.

Robinson said after graduating Aabuthnott Gallimore High School in 2010 she engaged in a series of odd jobs before applying to the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF).

“You had to pass four or more subjects to graduate and graduation was not held until November, so I would do odd jobs, working at the bauxite company, flag work, working at gas station, supermarkets, as a cashier, security work — the bare minimum. I left high school with eight CSEC [Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate] subjects so I applied for the JCF, and they were saying more male recruits over female recruits were needed,” she said.

She admitted that she was sceptical in applying for a career in nursing in 2017 as she knew she had no financial support to complete her studies. She said she applied for a student loan to fund her nursing tuition but did not meet the requirements as she did not have any guarantors.

After being accepted for the four-year programme in 2018 she decided to continue her security job to pay the school fee, although it was challenging to balance work and school.

“During the college interview I was asked how I planned on paying the school fee. At that point I did not know how I was going to pay that and the only person I had at the time sustaining the family would have been my husband. Both of us are young, were sustaining a child and so on, so I told the director of the nursing campus that I would be doing security work at nights and school in the day,” she said.

“At that time I worked for ATLAS Armoured Limited in Brown’s Town, where I was placed in Trelawny to do night duties. I did my duties from 6:00 in the evenings to 6:00 am, and had to reach to school each morning by 8:00,” she explained, noting that her co-workers would assist by covering the remainder of her shifts so that she could leave early for school.

But doing clinical rotations as part of her programme posed another difficulty. She had to make the tough choice of leaving her job and finding financial assistance as her school duties would not coordinate with her work hours.

“We would have been placed in different parishes, and then I’d realised that the shifts weren’t only day shifts, so you can’t really do what you need to in the night. I was on the eight-month payment plan and this posed a huge problem as I was not able to work. I couldn’t cover the shifts, which meant that I couldn’t cover the tuition,” she said.

She said the remainder of her programme was funded by bursaries, Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, and other financial aid.

She said, throughout her experience, she felt proud that she “remained humble and trusted the process”.

“Being at the bottom seems like the hardest thing, but what the bottom does is prepare you for when you get to the top,” she said.

Robinson is encouraging those who feel daunted by challenges to stay committed in reaching their goals.

“You have to surround yourself with people who have already gone through the process that you are now going through as they are better able to guide you through the process. The hardest thing is to start, but when you do, everything else will come into play,” she said.