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Born in Hammerton district, St. Ann, Shermin Green has been a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force for the last 12 years. Her journey however, has been one filled with trials, culminating in triumph.

At the age of 13, while attending the Alexandria Secondary School in St. Ann, Green became pregnant. For many young women, this would have meant the beginning of the end; but for her, it was just the beginning, as she got a second lease on life and made very good use of it.

After having her baby, Green went to the Women’s Crisis Centre, and after attending classes for six months, she went to Brown’s Town Secondary and completed grades 10 and 11. After that, she went to the Brown’s Town Community College where she completed several subjects.

Throughout this time, Green had to do domestic work in order to take care of her child and to sustain herself throughout. Thankfully, her mother (although she was upset about the early pregnancy) offered encouragement and was very supportive of her, and so too were her teachers.

She continued to strive to prove to herself that she was not a failure, and started in the HEART/Trust NTA’s on-the-job training programme, which landed her at Charley’s Windsor House in Brown’s Town. She worked there for three years while awaiting a call from the Jamaica Constabulary Force. The call eventually came in 1997.

After being posted at the Mobile Reserve, then Trelawny, and then the St. Catherine South divisions, Green was still not satisfied. She headed back to school, to the Northern Caribbean University (NCU), where she completed a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and graduated in 2009.

Even still, she yearns for more. Kudos to Policewoman Shermin Green, for taking her trials, and turning them into triumph.

Dr. Fitzroy Hamilton is a 29 year old medical doctor, currently working as a medical officer at the Annotto Bay Hospital in St. Mary. Originally from the volatile Seaview Gardens community in West St. Andrew, he undoubtedly represents an excellent example of positivity that can emerge from Jamaica’s ghettos.

From a young age he wanted to “…cut people, the right way”, and noted that when he used to tell people in Seaview that he wanted to be a doctor, they all laughed. He attended St. Anne’s basic and primary schools, and passed his Common Entrance exam a year earlier than normal (in Grade 5). He then attended Kingston College, and left there in 1998 with 14 subjects overall. Then, it was on to the natural science programme at the University of the West Indies which he did for a year, but was forced to drop out, as his family could not afford the tuition and other fees.

At that time, he heard about the Cuban scholarship programme, applied for it, was successful, and left Jamaica in September 1999. For the next seven years, he studied at the Medical Sciences University of Gramna, eastern Cuba, graduating with honours in 2006, having been twice named Jamaican Student of the Year.

Since returning to Jamaica in 2006, he has worked at the Kingston Public Hospital, Victoria Jubilee Hospital, the Bustamante Hospital for Children, and now the Annotto Bay hospital in St. Mary.

Dr. Hamilton is another of the many Jamaicans here and abroad who are making us proud. Kudos to him, for using the Seaview Gardens experience as motivation for greatness.