ROUND HILL, Hanover — Jerome Garwood has already been conferred with the Prime Minister’s National Youth Award for Excellence, he’s one of the recipients of the 2025 Hanover Charities educational scholarships, and this week he will add the prestigious Governor General’s Achievement Award to his list of accolades.

He received the PM’s youth award in May, a nod to his outstanding achievements in education and community service. His accomplishments are all the more impressive when viewed within the context of what he has had to overcome. And he has big dreams of accomplishing even more.

Garwood, who hails from the rural Hanover communities of Mount Peace and Caldwell, was raised by his mother in a single-parent household, alongside two older siblings. His journey has been marked by perseverance in the face of adversity. Despite financial hardship, Garwood became the first member of his immediate family to graduate from high school. Determined to continue his education, he spent a year working for minimum wage at Jamaica Defence Force, saving enough to begin his studies at Montego Bay Community College with the help of a scholarship from Hanover Charities.

His early college years were difficult. Without a personal laptop, he often stayed late into the night in the computer lab, working on assignments for his architecture and construction technology course.

“I used to stay back at nights, up to 10:00 pm sometimes, in the computer lab or the technical drawing room, drawing. My aunt used to pick me up at night, brought me home. I remember starting off with like two suits of uniform. After I reached home early in the evening [I would] wash them [and] go back to school again,” Garwood told the Jamaica Observer.

The determined young man would later receive a full four-year scholarship from the Ministry of Education to move on to University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech). But even with the full scholarship, his financial struggles were not over. They were coupled with emotional struggles following the deaths of his uncle, grandmother and sister. Through it all, Garwood persevered, actively engaging in campus life as a class representative, mentor, Sunday school teacher, and deputy director of spiritual development in UTech’s Students’ Union. In 2024, he graduated as valedictorian.

“At one point I almost stopped my studies. I received counselling from [the] UTech guidance counsellor, my faculty members chipped in, and they encouraged me to continue my studies because I lost my uncle and then my grandmother. I lost my sister just last year as well, after finishing up, so it was a very challenging period at UTech — not just financially, but emotionally as well. But, I stuck at it and I came through. And, as I said, I graduated as valedictorian at the end of it all,” he proudly stated.

Now, Garwood works as a quantity surveyor with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining. Committed to giving back, he volunteers with Hanover Charities, helping them manage construction costs on school renovation projects — a way to enable the charity to help even more students.

He has dreams of furthering his education. And while funding remains a challenge, with only Hanover Charities currently committed to supporting him, he remains hopeful.

“I would like to start studying again, this time at Robert Gordon University in Scotland where I would like to pursue a Master of Science in Construction Law and Arbitration. Right now it’s not looking very likely because only Hanover Charities has committed to invest so far, and it’s just me alone. I’m the breadwinner for my family. I have some savings but at the same time, I have my mother, grandmother, siblings, neighbours, nieces and all that,” Garwood explained.

He has very clearly defined goals.

“After I get that degree in construction law and arbitration I plan to create a joint quantity surveying and construction law firm locally, and hopefully provide many employment opportunities for youth with an interest in construction. Not only that, I plan to continue my work with Hanover Charities, not at the current level I am at but even do something greater. I plan to partner with them in the future to hopefully provide a scholarship in my sister’s name, Sabrina Garwood — the one that passed away last year. This scholarship would be for students interested in pursuing any construction-related programme at a tertiary institution, because I believe [the] construction industry is one worth investing in, in Jamaica,” Garwood said.