For final-year graduate student at the University of West Indies, Mona campus, Shauntae Tapper, memories of being bullied as a child linger. But it is also a lingering reminder of her mom’s sacrifice that has driven her to succeed in school.

Tapper, 34, said her mother Patsy Leslie raised chickens at their Clarendon home and sold poultry in the May Pen Market. When she was as young as eight, she would help Leslie deliver chicken to customers and, when her mother transitioned to a cook shop, she would help deliver meals.

It was an experience the young Shauntae despised because of bullying and feeling “out of place”.

“I hated it…I remember when she opened the shop in the market and you know how kids at primary school can be very judgmental. I was eight years old and it was rough,” Tapper told OBSERVER ONLINE.

“Children used to tease me. It was horrible and I hated the market,” she said. “Then I transitioned to high school and Glenmuir is kind of an elitist school down here. Glenmuir is the cream of the crop in Clarendon. So, my mother was selling in the market, and me going there, I kind of felt out of place.”

However, looking back at her journey, Tapper said she would not have it any other way, explaining that the sacrifice her mother made to give her a better life has been her “biggest drive” to succeed.

What’s more, Tapper said, not only did she develop the gumption to face adversities, she mastered the art of success. The now sales representative at Consumer Brands attained a first degree – major in Tourism Management and a minor in Meetings and Special Events Management – at the University of Technology.

She is now on her way to achieving a Master of Science in Marketing and Data Analytics at UWI. She sat the final examination of her Master’s programme on July 28 and will graduate in November of this year.

“I wanted to make my mother proud. That was my biggest drive going through, especially university. That first degree, she was really my drive, and at times when it got rough, I used to think back and say ‘boy, I cannot shame my mother. I have to make her proud,’” Tapper said.

She added that it was her mother’s strength that fuelled her to greatness.

“My motivation was knowing my mother was doing the best that she could. And knowing that she was in the market selling, I had to push through. I had to hold my head up and ensure that I came out with what I was supposed to come out with,” she said.

“It’s been a journey. She’s no longer in the market but just looking back at where I’m coming from and where I’m at now, I think it’s an inspiring story,” she added.

She advises youngsters to position themselves to strive for better circumstances through perseverance, ambition and prayer.

“I think just having ambition. Ambition is key. Knowing that irrespective of where you are starting, the possibilities out there are endless. I know we’re in a society where everything seems like you need to have links and need to have connections, but persevere, have ambition and pray. Pray and ask God for a favour to put you in the right place and time….Know what you want and position yourself to get it,” she advised.