NORWOOD, St James – Deanashae Delisser is from Church Lane in the volatile Norwood community in St James. Her home is just metres away from where the security forces have set up a zone of special operations (ZOSO). Soon she will have the chance for a fresh start. She is set to attend Immaculate Conception High School in September, the result of all the hard work she put in at Chetwood Memorial Primary School.

She was a standout performer in the recent Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations and was rewarded with admission to the school of her first choice.

Deanashae was among 30 students who received bursaries last Sunday from Councillor Joshua Cummings (Jamaica Labour Party, Montego Bay Central) as part of his educational support initiative. The funds provided to each student ranged from $10,000 to $20,000.

The funds she received will help the student from western Jamaica adjust to life in the east, in Kingston. She has long dreamt of attending Immaculate.

“I feel ecstatic, I feel very accomplished and happy that I could actually pull through with something I wanted to do,” she told the Jamaica Observer.

“I feel good, I feel like I can make a difference where the education sector is concerned and I’m very happy to know that I did well and I can be an example to someone else in the future,” she remarked.

“With determination and continued consistency, you can be anything you want to be. Once they put their minds to it, absolutely anything is possible,” she said of anyone working towards their dreams.

Her mother, Lakeisha Bartley, has already seen signs of the impact Deanashae’s accomplishments have had on their gritty community.

“It’s a great achievement and she has done well for her family and also our neighbourhood. Most of all, she has let us be reminded that it is not how you start but how you finish,” she told Observer West.

“You can finish strong; even though you have obstacles and hurdles, you can jump over them,” the proud mother added.

She will moving to Kingston with her daughter to provide support as the teenager navigates secondary education.

“We are grateful for what we got and it will be an aid for us moving,” Bartley stated.

Deanashae, a budding entrepreneur, plans to major in business. She has already partnered with her mother in an enterprise.

“I have a business and I would just want to continue work in that direction to continue to build myself up,” she said.

She is now looking forward to a new environment and the experiences that come with it, convinced that with hard work she will be able to again achieve her goals.

“I will try to do my best,” Deanashae promised.