FOR college students Denzel Morrison and Jordon Jackson, participating in the JPS Foundation Mentorship Programme has opened the window into the world of adulting and seen them realise personal growth.

“The programme has been a wonderful experience to openly discuss different situations and receive thoughtful, trustworthy advice from someone outside my immediate family,” shared 22-year-old Jackson, an electrical and computer engineering student at the University of Technology, (UTech) Jamaica .

He’s particularly thankful for enriching life lessons gained from the mentor-mentee association with Ruthlyn Johnson, JPS customer service area manager for Kingston, St Andrew and St Thomas.

“We have cultivated a solid relationship built on trust and support,” the aspiring engineer explained.

Since their initial pairing in February, at the start of the foundation’s programme, the two have grown from tentative to tight friends.

“I did not know what to expect, with me being someone who tends not to text or call a lot, so the communication in the beginning with her was very little. But, it has become much more frequent as I am very comfortable speaking with Mrs Johnson,” Jackson said in a recent sit-down.

He was attending a wrap-up workshop session — joined by five fellow mentees and their mentors — held last month at the JPS New Kingston head offices to close the five-month-long mentorship programme.

Impactful change is acknowledged on a personal front by the fourth-year tertiary student.

“The most significant thing I have discovered about myself as a mentee is that having a support team around any student or individual really makes a difference,” admitted Jackson, the middle child of three siblings for his Jamaica Defence Force father Noel Jackson and late primary school educator mother, Joan.

“I have found a sense of purpose and a willingness to do more for myself since becoming a mentee,” he said.

His mentor, Johnson, a two-decade-plus communications guru with the light and power company, now squarely counts herself ‘Team Jordon’.

“I am now part of Jordon’s cheerleading squad, and always rooting for him,” the enthused JPS executive noted.

Through her formalised enrolment in the company programme as a mentor, Johnson said: “I have gotten the opportunity to help him become a little more focused and set him on the path towards his dreams. At the same time, I have also been able to assist him on a personal level with things he might be dealing with.”

This has meant regular phone calls and WhatsApp messages between them on matters navigating academics, insights into the female psyche, and job prospects.

Regarding the latter, Johnson was able to secure Jordon his dream summer internship at Jamaica Energy Partners (JEP).

“From the first conversation we had, I discovered Jordon wanted to spend his summer at JEP to explore the practical side of what he was studying at UTech. He is now the instrumentation and electrical intern there, and he enjoys what he’s doing.

“You would never believe someone would be so excited about pulling down a unit at a power plant and putting it back together, and seeing the parts that are in there…that’s what excites him and I am so happy he was happy to get that job,” she said.

Jackson is happy, too.

“I specialise in power systems, so working within a power plant and seeing what I have studied in school and how it works within the industry is truly satisfying,” he explained.

“Working alongside my coworkers is also rewarding, as they are very willing to teach me and help me grow within the electrical industry. They answer questions I ask a lot and expound on them to give me a better understanding. They also place their trust in me after explaining the task and allow me to carry out various electrical activities such as testing, calibration, free conditioning and much more.

“Being able to do these on my own helps the knowledge and understanding to stick better, and the knowledge I have gained is not limited to electrical work, but I have developed better knowledge of the mechanical side of power production,” he said.

Meanwhile, Jackson’s mentee colleague Morrison relayed his own satisfaction being part of the philanthropic programme.

“I have learnt a lot and got insights into what is required of me in the work world,” shared the 19-year-old freshman of Church Teacher’s College in Mandeville, of the useful knowledge he has gained from the mentor-mentee programme.

“It’s been an overall great experience and also made me aware of what to expect and how to handle situations and how to think like a man, to be exact,” he added.

The aspiring physics educator was paired with Sharmica Holness, a JPS key account executive in the client relations department.

The relationship that developed between them is one in which the introverted Morrison has taken comfort. Holness has become his go-to source for counsel.

“She gives the best advice. I am always asking for clarification on certain topics and she does so extremely well,” explained the young man, who just wrapped up his first-year tertiary pursuit majoring in physics and minoring in chemistry.

His mentor waxed favourably of her youthful charge.

“I’m particularly fond of Denzel as he is a go-getter who has big dreams and aspirations,” Holness remarked. “He is passionate about his dream of becoming Jamaica’s top physics teacher and is working assiduously towards achieving that goal.

“I believe Denzel is poised for greatness if he continues to demonstrate this positive approach to life,” she said.

She is cognizant of the impact positive mentorship can have and remembers well the women in her orbit who moulded the younger Sharmica.

“I had two mentors: My former social studies teacher at Bishop Gibson High, Layota Minott and my late educator mother, Pauline Peart, may God bless her soul. Everything I am today I owe to those two,” Holness declared.

Morrison is a football enthusiast currently playing the wide attacker position for his collegiate team. The laser-focused young man is working towards manifesting his dreams, and is reflective of the path he is on.

Raised by his grandaunt Lorna Johnson in Spalding, Clarendon, in a bustling household with six cousins, Morrison, who recently joined the chess club at Church Teacher’s College, said: “Sometimes you won’t have a father figure in the picture but my grandaunt is everything to me because, without her, I would not have been right here, right now. She is basically my backbone and everything I could ask for.”

For both Morrison and Jackson, the JPS Foundation mentorship programme has given them a leg up in preparation for the shifting dynamics of the work world.

For JPS Foundation’s leading lady, Sophia Lewis, the mentorship programme was an intentional exercise in developing meaningful connections jointly beneficial for the mentees and mentors.