JANELLE KNIGHT is the winner of the 13th annual Caribbean Catalyst Inc. regg Nurse Memorial Scholarship.
Knight, 21, is pursuing medical studies at the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill Campus. The runner-up is Gabriella Bovell-Niles (below), also 21, a psychology and sociology student at Cave Hill.
The presentation was made this morning by Senator Kerryann Ifill at the Caribbean Catalyst River Road, St Michael office.
“Here I am today, grateful that there are persons who stop to acknowledge those who excel despite these limitations. I thank you,” Knight told the gathering.
The scholarship is presented to a person with a disability who is pursuing post-secondary education at a recognised tertiary institution.
Nurse was the first person with a disability to graduate with honours from Cave Hill in 1997. He died in at age 27 after a battle with muscular dystrophy. His mother Linelle and brother Ricky were present for the ceremony.
The latter painted a picture of a younger brother who was never held back by his disability, making friends wherever he went and constantly excelling. Nurse said he saw some of his brother’s personality in this year’s finalists.
“… that is where my challenge will come to you. You have to continue to change the entire environment around you and force them to catch up to you; whether it is your creativity as a person; whether it is that passion and that drive. Force them to learn what your experience is like and to really broaden their thinking to suit,” he said.
Knight, who is hearing impaired, hopes to specialise in orthopaedic surgery and dreams of being a doctor on the staff of an NBA team.
Bovell-Niles’ right arm was amputated below the elbow after she was involved in a vehicular accident in December 2015. She wants to be a Special Education Teacher and speech language pathologist. (SAT)
