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When Nickolye Graham sat his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams, he achieved grade one scores in 10 of them.

This included being top student in principles of business in Jamaica.

He went on to do 11 Caribbean Advanced Proficieny Examination (CAPE) subjects. In unit one, he finished top in integrated mathematics in Jamaica, and ninth in the Caribbean overall.

But all of this might not have materialised had he not ‘buckled down’ before heading to fourth form at St Jago High.

Growing up in Featherbed Lane, Spanish Town, St Catherine, wasn’t a bed of roses for the now 19-year-old.

The violence that often beset the inner-city community was something that he had to deal with.

“One morning, I remember going to school, and they killed someone outside of my gate; that was very traumatic. I was going to go to school, and you heard the shot, and then there was like police and everything,” he said.

Graham said he did not know his father and didn’t have a relationship with his mother. He grew up with his grandparents, and told THE STAR that as the oldest of three children in the household, he wasn’t closely monitored.

“My home environment wasn’t enforcing, so I did what I wanted to do,” he said, noting that, fortunately, he had not had any run-ins with the law.

And although he matriculated to St Jago, this achievement wasn’t enough to curb his wayward ways.

“It was rare, because in my community you didn’t really have anyone who’d be going to that school. But from first to third form, I was involved in the wrong company. I had a low average of below 40 per cent. I remember going to school and not going to any classes,” he said.

But the support of his grandparents, and the unwavering belief of teachers at the school, pushed Graham to want more out of life.

“I was trying to do really well in the last semester of third form, but it never really worked, because I was missing classes, and I felt really bad. So I made a plan that summer to look at fourth form in a different light,” he said.

His new mindset led him in the right directon and the transformation was astounding, leading to his excellent CSEC and CAPE results.

Graham is now pursuing a degree in actuarial science at the University of the West Indies, funded through sponsorship from the St Jago Past Students’ Association.

The second-year student is the first in his family to attend university, and is crediting his high school for that opportunity.

“St Jago High school was integral to everything. Being part of that community, you realise it doesn’t really matter where you’re from or what your background is. It’s not like you’re going straight home after school, there were always some activities to keep you occupied,” he said.

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