KINGSTON, Jamaica — Annay Wheatle believes her brain is her greatest asset. Afterall, it is what propelled her from the poor rural community of Blenheim in Manchester, to attend law school at the University of Technology (UTech). Now, in a matter of months, not only will the 22-year-old be graduating with a first class honours law degree, but she has also secured a coveted spot at the Norman Law School. But even as she basks in her achievement, Wheatle is daunted by the more than $1.2 million cost needed to cover her tuition at what is arguably the Caribbean’s premiere law school. It is a cost she simply cannot afford. It is against that background that the aspiring attorney-at-law decided to start a GoFundMe campaign. She is hoping the crowd-funding platform will help ease her burden.  “I’m coming from an outside school, and the spaces for people coming from the outside [The UWI] are very limited so when I found out I was in, I had to get active to see what I can do to generate funds for the law school,” she shared. 

Wheatle started the GoFundMe campaign in September with a goal of raising US$10,000. She raised US$3000 of that amount and was able to enroll in law school. But as this semester draws to a close, she is still trying to figure out how she’ll cover the tuition for the rest of the year.

“I used everything from the GoFundMe to pay a part of the tuition, I was able to get the rest through donations, assistance from friends,” said 

Wheatle who in addition to being a full-time student, also works full-time to help cover her expenses. Still her efforts have not been enough. 

“I work full time, and go to school full time. It has been overwhelming but I had to put myself in a position where I could at least help myself the best I could through law school,” Wheatle shared indicating that while attending UTech, she did odd jobs to support herself. “If there was a promotion thing going on and they were looking for workers, maybe for a supermarket or a product, I would do those type of things. I always tried to do something to help myself even if it wasn’t the greatest.”

““My family tried to help, everybody tried to help. Not only my parents but my extended family, everybody was trying to contribute, unfortunately it didn’t cover everything,” she continued.

Now, as she tries to clear this next level on her journey, she’s hoping that someone helps her by donating to her GoFundMe campaign.

“I’m hoping to get some more donations going into the next year to lift the burden off myself,” she said. “

I’m always saying to everybody, no donation is too small. I relied on the saying that ‘one-one cocoa full basket’, meaning if everybody comes together and give a little, it ends up being a lot.”

“Take a chance on someone who has proven time and time again that they are willing to work, they’re willing to make sacrifices, big and small, to achieve a goal that has long been a dream, and is so close to being a reality, but if I could just have that extra push,” she added.