FINAL exams stress and freshman year at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus behind her, Chelsea Pingue is in a circumspect mood. “My first semester wasn’t tedious. My second semester, however, was as I was doing seven courses,” shared the 20-year-old.

Pingue is enrolled in the Faculty of Science and Technology, and is a recipient of last year’s JPS Foundation Power Up science technology engineering and mathematics (STEM) tertiary scholarship.

“I would rate my first semester a six out of 10 as it relates to academics. Besides that, learning new stuff, interacting and exploring, I would rate it an eight out of 10,” assessed the former Decarteret College alumna, who was president of the Peer Counselling Club at her Manchester-based school and captained the table tennis team to the National Schools Championship play-offs.

Of her new tertiary education life, Pingue has found solace in the faculty where she’s studying physics and mathematics.

“It has a bunch of like-minded people and different activities that have taken me out of my comfort zone,” she raved. “The Department of Physics is lovely and the people there are amazing. They help you to come out of your shell to be the best version of yourself.”

With the three-year medical physics degree she is presently reading for one-third complete, university has brought a matured mindset through the extracurricular activities she has involved herself in.

“I don’t usually like to interact with large groups of people but I did it for Research Day at UWI in March, and it was incredible. I was helping out and had to interface with different people which I don’t typically do, but it was a great experience.”

Also in March, Pingue served as a volunteer at the JPS Foundation’s climate action conference and expo at the AC Hotel in Kingston. She fully embraced the opportunity to both be of assistance, and immerse herself in the event.

Themed ‘Road to Resilience: Energy, Disaster Preparedness and Food Security’, the second staging of the expo and conference melded climate conversations with tangible experiences and connected attendees directly with technologies and ideas shaping Jamaica’s response to climate change.

She aspires to become a medical physicist. “I would like to diagnose and help with the treatment of large data as it relates to different medical related issues. My aim is to diagnose preventions of different aspects in medicine using physics,” the university student explained, adding that delving into cancer research is of special interest to her in the future.

One of 12 beneficiaries of the 2025 STEM tertiary scholarship programme funded by the island’s leading energy company, Pingue learnt of the educational grant in January 2025.

She was in her upper sixth-form year at Decarteret, “when I came to Kingston to attend the JPS Foundation’s CAPE STEM workshop at UWI.”

Pingue was again prompted by her social media scroll on Instagram on the scholarship’s Jamaica account, and she applied and earned an academic grant with a dollar-value of $400,000.

“It’s so much more than just an academic scholarship; I think it’s a scholarship programme that really helps you grow on a personal level,” she said, singling out the foundation’s mentorship workshops as a source of empowerment.

“I learnt how to budget, how to manage stress, how to approach school, and how to find time to enjoy my wins. I feel that has aided me to be a better student and a better person in general.“

Pingue’s vaunted appraisal is music to the ears of JPS Foundation Head Sophia Lewis.

“I am most passionate and proud of the mentorship component of our programme. We have two sets of scholarship recipients so far benefiting from the programme that includes the parents of our secondary school students,” Lewis said.

“We are honoured to be able to provide financial support for students to advance their ambitions with STEM.”

The in-house mentorship programme pinpoints such key focus areas as behavioural change, fostering resilience, professional guidance, environmental awareness and community leadership.

“As part of the programme, we have group mentorship workshops hosted for our scholarship awardees with the JPS Volunteers On Location to Serve who share their professional expertise and lived experiences. These workshops are essentially personal development sessions,” she explained, adding that cancer research is of special interest to her at the moment.

Justifying the rationale behind the foundation’s STEM focus for tertiary-bound scholarship students, Lewis said it’s part of JPS’ commitment to foster innovation and technological advancement in Jamaica.

As part of the scholarship programme, Lewis indicated that the beneficiaries are intentionally integrated into the life of the island’s leading power provider.

“They participate in outreach activities which advance our community empowerment effort. They also have an opportunity to participate in our engineering and IT internship programme, which gives tertiary student graduates a one-year internship at JPS,” she said.

Launched in 2023, 53 recipients pursuing their secondary and tertiary education have directly benefited from the programme.

This year, there are three categories of scholarships and one grant on offer.

There is a STEM Scholarship for tertiary students accepted to pursue a first degree in a STEM-related area at an accredited university.

Also available is a STEM Scholarship for teachers’ college students who must be accepted to pursue a teaching degree in a STEM-related area at an accredited teacher’s college. Plus, there’s the East-West Power (EWP) Korea STEM grant for University of Technology engineering or College of Agriculture, Science and Education STEM students.

There is, too, the JPS VOLTS PEP scholarship for those on the cusp of adolescence who have completed Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exams at the Grade 6 Level.

JPS is providing six tertiary scholarships, six EWP grants, and three PEP scholarships for the upcoming academic year that begins this September.