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There’s no doubt that 28-year-old Kellisia Ebanks has an impressive resume. She is a former Chevening scholar, a Prime Minister’s National Youth awardee, was president of Jamaica Youth Theatre, a building services engineer, and a part-time university lecturer.

But the achievement she is most proud of is the work she continues to do to help and inspire young people.

“I always tell the young people around me that anything that I can achieve, I can show you how I can achieve it. I tell them that I am no more smarter than you, I’m no more intelligent than you. What I take the time to do is to share with them the fact that we’re all different. We’re all amazing, and anything amazing that you see me achieve, you can achieve it too,” she told THE STAR.

To fullfil her purpose, Ebanks started a mentorship programme in 2012 to help young people in rural Jamaica and Kingston to navigate the path to tertiary education.

“I try to reach out to young people in rural areas, and to mentor them as it relates to education and finding opportunities. I’ve found that young people are discouraged about applying for a tertiary education because of finances. So I help them to find means of funding their education, whether it be student loan. You’d be amazed at how many young people who do not know how to use the computer and apply for loans, grants and so on,” she said.

Ebanks admitted that she currently cannot fund them fully, “but I do help young people as it relates to finding books, school supplies, and just being a mentor who can understand their plight, who can understand where they are”.

SHARING EXPERIENCE

Ebanks said she was a first -generation college student and aims to share that experience with more young people.

“I was the first one in my immediate family to finish high school, to go to university, and get a university degree and get a masters. I felt like I had a responsibility to do these things to not only help my family, but to help the other young people in my community back in St Elizabeth, to let them know that you can do it, no matter where you come from,” she said.

Growing up in Junction, St Elizabeth, Ebanks said she was surrounded by a strong group of policewomen.

This inpsired her to venture out in a career that is just as daring for women – engineering.

“I share my failures with people not to say that I’ve been a failure but to show them that, yea, I’ve failed and I’ve fallen, but look at me. I’m doing well, I still have bad days, but I have a lot to be proud of, and I want you to be proud of yourself too,” she said. “But I realise that a lot of people are afraid to try and do the things that they see a lot of people doing, and I tell them, I’m nothing special, but I try.”

“What keeps me going is the next achievement, growing as an individual and just building on what I already have, trying to achieve a level of self-actualization while at the same time, encouraging a lot of young people to do the same”.