At the commencement of her third year of study in September 2025 Aneta Wilson was faced with school fees of JA$494,000 and total college-related debts of JA506,000. When hurricane Melissa struck in October 2025 the challenges she faced in completing her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education had simply multiplied.
As a mother of a 10-plus son, instead of boarding, she had long decided to commute daily to college so as to be part of her child’s growing-up. This is a 30-mile (50 Km) journey from Duanvale, Trelawny to Granville, a suburb of Montego Bay, and involves three (3) different route-taxis in the seemingly organized “anarchy” of public transportation in rural Jamaica. Hurricane Melissa and the resulting badly damaged roads, as well as prolonged power and internet outages could easily have discouraged her from pursuing her ambition to become a qualified teacher.
But she had made too many sacrifices to give up half-way through her studies. After high school she was employed by the Ministry of Health and gave that up for a degree in education. Her day typically starts at 4:00 am and she returns home no earlier than 7:00 pm most evenings. At one time, in her previous two years, she had a part-time job after classes, sometimes getting home close to midnight and then spending up to two-hours to complete class assignments. That proved too exhausting even for a very determined young lady.
When she saw the announcement of the Grantly Green Scholarship on the college notice board Aneta was owing over $300,000 to the college with no idea where that money was coming from. Now that debt is almost cleared. That is why she is ”super-grateful” to the Grantley Green scholarship committee for selecting her as one of the first two recipients of this award. She said the scholarship is very significant for students like her who were almost on the verge of giving up because of financial difficulties.
Significantly she praised the Class of 1978 and the family of Grantley Green for giving back to the community and said she was inspired to do the same.
Long may the GG Scholarship continue with the support of former classmates, college administration and alumni, family and friends.