Jamaal Muirhead gains scholarship on second attempt with gift of glasses

Jamaal Muirhead, a former student of Denbigh High School whose story made the rounds four years ago after he was rejected a scholarship because of poor vision, has lived up to his words of making a major academic comeback with the gift of a glasses.

Four years ago, after Muirhead, who hails from Gimme-Me-Bit within the JWN’s New Yarmouth Estate environs applied to J Wray & Nephew (JWN) Foundation, did not receive a scholarship primarily because he was visually impaired which caused him to only score low marks in school, he committed to do better and reapply years later.

However, back then, the distraught youth wrote to the foundation in 2019 explaining the reasons for his low scores, and they intervened with the help of Optical Elements Company Limited.

After receiving a pair of glasses free of charge from Dr Peta-Gay McDonald, optometrist and owner of Optical Elements, Muirhead had been able to finally see the chalkboards in his classes at the Denbigh High School clearer and was able to score distinctions in the subjects he sat in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), and was recently accepted by The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in law.

“I was sad [when I was previously rejected for a scholarship in 2019], but it was bittersweet because I didn’t get a scholarship, but I got a brand-new pair of glasses and I’ve always struggled with my vision,” Muirhead told The Gleaner at Optical Elements located along Half-Way Tree Road on Thursday, where he was being given a second replacement free of charge.

“I’ve always struggled with my vision. When I was in high school, I had to go to the front of the board to see anything. I couldn’t see at all, and I had to look out of classmate’s books to see anything,” he said.

Although visually impaired, he told The Gleaner that he has been “very aware of the world”.

That gift of a glasses, the 18-year-old youth said, only transformed his life for the better.

“I was able to do better. I now have 19 subjects. Nine CSEC and 10 CAPE subjects, and the glasses played an important role in doing that, because I was able to see more clearly and I was able to be more focused and more concentrated on my academics,” Muirhead told The Gleaner.

Muirhead copped four distinctions at the CSEC level for agricultural science; food, nutrition and health; family and resource management and information technology. He said he also passed the CSEC subjects: English language, mathematics, biology, chemistry and physics, and was on the Jamaican Merit List for his passing grade in agricultural science.

At the CAPE level, he passed the subjects communications studies, Caribbean studies, biology units one and two, chemistry units one and two, law unit two, environmental science units one and two, and information technology unit one.

With these accomplishments and being granted the opportunity to pursue law at UWI, he was recently awarded a JWN Foundation tertiary level scholarship valued at $200,000 to pursue a bachelor of science degree in international relations.

Muirhead had a change of heart immediately after starting UWI, and opted to change his course of study.

“Two weeks ago, I emailed someone in the Department of Government and I told them that I needed to switch, because I needed some more diversity. I needed to do other courses than law courses,” he told The Gleaner.

Muirhead said he has his eyes set on getting a job with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade when he completes his tertiary level studies.

“I think that foreign affairs is very important. It helps to influence trade and with passing foreign policies for us to foster better trade amongst countries,” he said.

After being handed his new pair of glasses at Optical Elements on Thursday afternoon, the humble youth smiled and said, “I feel pretty good. It’s amazing.”

His glasses had not been replaced over the years because his mother was unable to purchase another. However, going forward, both JWN Foundation and Optical Elements will ensure his replacements are done on time.

For Tanikie McClarty Allen, chief executive officer, JWN Foundation, even though her organisation did not purchase the glasses for Muirhaed, they had to visit Optical Elements while he was doing his test and choosing a new pair of glasses on Thursday.

“We’re happy that we’re able to assist Jamaal once again. We were happy when we realised that it was a challenge with his eyesight. It was very evident from the application that there was something happening,” McClarty told The Gleaner.

“We expect that he will continue his academic journey now that he can see better,” she said.

For the academic year 2023-24, the JWN Foundation extended assistance in scholarships and bursaries to 203 students at the cost of $23.6 million from their profits.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com