Washington Area Students of Jamaican Heritage Get Jamaican Nationals Association Scholarship Support

Washington, DC, November 25, 2024: Five students of Jamaican heritage, who are attending colleges and universities in the United States, have been awarded the 2024 Jamaican Nationals Association (JNA) College Student Scholarships.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Jamaica Ms. Lishann Salmon (third left and JNA President Ms. Rukie Wilson (centre) with the five recipients of the 2024 Jamaica Nationals Association (JNA) College Student Scholarships Awards, during the JNA’s annual scholarship awards event. The recipients (from left) are Oshin Wilson, Jada Gilfillan, Noelle Stennett, Jamoye Mondie and Torian Powell, The event was held at Silver Spring Civic Building in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, on Saturday, November 24, 2024. (Photo credit: Derrick Scott)Each awarded a US$1,000 scholarship assistance are Howard University’s Jada Gilfillan, Jamoye Mondie, and Noelle Stennett, with University of the District of Columbia’s Toran Powell and Oshin Wilson receiving the same financial grant as well.

They were presented with their respective awards at JNA’s annual Leadership Development Scholarship Awards ceremony at Silver Spring Civic center in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, last Saturday, November 24.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Jamaica Ms. Lishann Salmon represented Ambassador Audrey Marks. She commended the JNA of the Mtero Washington Area for creating the scholarship assistance, calling the initiative “an outstanding effort in helping students to achieve higher education.”

Ms. Salmon also congratulated the students and called on them not to forget important values and principles as they go forward. “I encourage you to continue to aim high and never abandon the pursuit of your dreams. May I also encourage you, as beneficiaries of the goodwill of others, to also give back to others in need, giving someone else such opportunity in the future,” said she, noting that the noblest endeavor is to devote oneself to “service to humanity.

“Education will not make you a more moral person; education will not tell you how to be a person of integrity; it will not make you kind, neither will it make you sensitive to the needs and interests of others,” said Ms. Salmon. “You acquired those values from home, from church, from your family, friends and peers. As educated persons, you must ensure that you hold yourselves to those values and that you pass them on to those that are around you.”

As well, Ms. Salmon commended the JNA for the remarkable role it has played in the Washington metropolitan area – over nearly five decades – enhancing the welfare of Jamaicans both in the diaspora and back at home.

JNA President Ms. Rukie Wilson, in her own remarks, reported that through its student outreach programme, the JNA also works with the Embassy of Jamaica to facilitate opportunities for fellowships and mentoring relationships between “our university and college students and our Jamaican professional and diplomatic community within the Washington Metropolitan area.”

She explained that JNA scholarship grants are based on high academic excellence, outstanding community service, and financial need.