Information technology and security student, Gerrard Russell, will be one of five Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute students heading to Canada in January to continue studies on an Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) scholarship.
Russell, who will study information technology at Fanshawe College, in London, Ontario, Canada, along with Ketely Brown who will pursue studies in the same field, but at Holland College; Elkeno Jones who will study electrical at Holland College, Valentino Burrows, who will study solar thermal energy at Holland College, Rashad Morely, who will study electrical at Vancouver Island University, received the scholarships through the Canadian government. The scholarships are for students from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The scholarships are short-term opportunities at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The purpose is to support the development of human capital and the next generation of leaders in the Americas, which strengthens linkages between post-secondary schools in Canada with Latin America and the Caribbean. The scholarship value varies between ($7,200 and $9,700 Canadian) depending on the duration and level of study for students, according to whether the course of study is four months for college and undergraduate students, or for a period of five or six months of study or research. And cover visa and or study/work permit expenses; funding for the most economical round trip economy class airfare; funding for health insurance; monthly living allowance and required books, supplies and equipment, not including computers.
The student exchange, which began in 2009, requires BTVI students to be full-time and following the experience, they are to return to BTVI to complete their studies.
Russell, a former student of C.C. Sweeting Senior School, who has been enrolled at BTVI for a year-and-a-half, is excited about the opportunity to study abroad. He departs for Canada on December 31, and plans to make the most of the opportunity, especially after he "messed around and threw opportunities out of the window."
He credits an employee at a school for gifted children who told him he could be whatever he wanted to be. That proved to be a light bulb moment for him. And besides God, Russell gives credit to his networking instructor Anthony Ramtula who inspired him to go beyond the ordinary.
"He kicked me into gear. He is brutally honest. He would also teach for hours straight, motivating me to be better than him. I've never met anyone like him," said Russell, who aspires to be a security auditor.
"Coming from nothing, this could only be God," said the 24-year-old who grew up in Chippingham with his parents Anthony and Melanie Russell and his siblings. His 20-year-old brother Ammad is also a student at BTVI.
"I won't disappoint BTVI. I'm just a person who wants to be the best."
And Russell is more than ready to make the leap from BTVI's 1,700 student campus to the approximately 15,000 full-time students he will meet at Fanshawe's main campus.
"This is the opportunity to show the naysayers that God can do everything. I won't let this opportunity slide," he said.
Russell, who said he has already started packing, said he also views the opportunity to study abroad as a chance to become more independent.
The BTVI student is a 3.73 cumulative grade point average student, a far cry from the less than 2.00 average he had when he left high school.
The reason for his change -- life -- and being under bosses who screamed at him made him realize there was more to life. He also did not want to fall prey to the lure of illegal activities. The young man who said he decided to take responsibility for his actions names Dr. Ben Carson, who at one point could not read, but went on to become the world's first black pediatric surgeon as an inspiration to him.
BTVI's manager and consultant, Dr. Iva Dahl told the five students to make BTVI proud and to remain focused on their courses of study. She also encouraged the students to expand their horizons and integrate with other cultures, opening themselves to the international experience.

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