Since Jewell Smith was nine years old, she told everybody who quizzed her about what career she would pursue, that she wanted to become a neurosurgeon.

Smith, a native of a small and remote community in St Elizabeth called Quickstep, was sure then, but today she is absolutely certain that becoming a world-class neurosurgeon is what she was born to do.

She identified that China offers one of the most affordable programmes for medical students and also people wanting to specialise in areas such as neurosurgery, which is surgery performed on the nervous system of humans and includes the brain and spinal cord.

Currently, Smith, who is 19, said she has been accepted by Wenzhou Medical University in China but she has not been able to act on the acceptance letter that she received from the institution because she does not have the funding. She needs approximately US$45,000 to fund her six-year studies and lodging in China.

Although she appealed to people’s kindness to help her achieve her mission, she made it clear that she hasn’t been sitting around idly since graduating from high school last year, but has been working in Montego Bay, St James, to try and save up some money for school.

“I am currently working as a hostess/receptionist; however, I reapplied for another job at a hotel. My goal at the moment is to put any amount of money I can towards my school funding. My mom is also doing her best, but her main income can only do so much. I don’t want to burden her.”

In 2021, while she was an ace student at Hampton School for Girls in St Elizabeth, Smith told the Jamaica Observer that she aspired to be the best neurosurgeon, but not just to support herself and family. She shared that it would mean a lot to her if she was able to give back to her country and especially Quickstep, her community that has for many years been neglected by politicians and everybody else, according to the residents.

Smith also said in 2021 that she was inspired by the work of Randy Griffiths, founder of charity organisation Pencils4Kids. Griffiths is a native of Quickstep who emigrated to the United States but returned to help build up the community that has been lacking in important infrastructure and programmes to aid development of the residents. She said she wanted to follow the footsteps of Griffiths, and even outdo the many works he has accomplished and will accomplish.

Smith was the first recipient of a scholarship from Pencils4kids which guided her through high school.

“That scholarship made sure that through high school the only thing mommy had to worry about was like small fees. The main thing now is to ensure I don’t put as much burden on my mom for tertiary education because I have to be realistic. She does not have the capacity. I want to make her proud in knowing that she sacrificed a lot through high school and I want to take over and put myself more out there in order to seek help and to do what I can for myself.

“That university in China actually provides 60 per cent off scholarships going from second year upwards. The discount increases further up in the years but my first year won’t be so easy. I am hoping I will be able to start next year and I would be absolutely grateful for the help. What I aim to do is to complete the six years that China will offer me. Their degree is very useful because I will be able to use it in multiple countries and it will allow me to get further opportunities. All these studies will put me in a position of giving back to my country and community,” Smith said, pledging to do excellently in her studies because there is no way she will go so far to fail.

Griffiths said he would love if he was in a position to give Smith all the money she needs for college overseas. However, doing that would prevent other young and promising people from Quickstep to receive a similar opportunity. Also, big plans for Quickstep, such as the construction of a multipurpose sporting complex and a large-scale farming programme, among others, would suffer.

He encouraged people in Jamaica and over the world to help Smith maximise her potential.

“Pencils4kids is a non-profit organisation that provides educational and other material for students of Quickstep and the community itself. When she scored very high on her primary school exams we started a scholarship programme and she was the first recipient. Now she has graduated and is moving on to bigger and better things. After our recipients graduate from high school, it is kind of difficult for us as a not-for-profit organisation to continue the journey, so we encourage kids in fifth form and sixth form to apply for scholarships.

“At some point it is going to cost us US$30,000 and upwards. We are a small organisation that can’t afford that at this point. If we put all of that in Jewell, everybody else will get left behind and we want them to also have a chance of going to Hampton and Munro College.

“Jewell is inspiring and is a motivation. I wish everyone was like her coming out of Quickstep. When I met Jewell, she was very young and she knew what she wanted to do. She said, ‘do you know Ben Carson? He is a neurosurgeon’. She was around nine years old at the time and that is what she said she wanted to do. That was inspiring. She is an amazing individual and she is very, very smart,” Griffiths said.

Those seeking to assist Smith may reach her by cellular phone at 876-576-5209 or by the e-mail address https://smithjewell16@gmail.com.

Pencils4kids may also be contacted via its social media pages under the name of the organisation.