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College was never a guarantee for Ronaldhino Brown.

At 21, the Church Road district native from Bog Walk, St Catherine, has spent much of his life navigating uncertainty, from struggling to afford tuition to enduring the emotional weight of his mother's mental illness. But through perseverance and purpose, he has defied the odds. Now, he's one of the tertiary recipients of the JPS Foundation Power Up STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Scholarship.

"When I got the email from the Foundation, I was scared to open it," he said. "But then I thought, they wouldn't go through the trouble of sending a PDF just to tell me no. When I saw that I got it, I ran outside and told my neighbours!"

The scholarship, valued at $400,000, lifted the burden of his $307,000 annual tuition at teachers' college, where he's studying secondary education with a double specialisation in information technology (IT). For Brown, it's more than money - it's a moment of validation after years of scraping by and carrying the emotional weight of watching his mother battle illness.

"Sometimes I have to prioritise my needs over hers, and that's not something I'm comfortable with," he told THE STAR. "Nobody wants to see their mother in that state and sometimes I feel so helpless knowing I can't do more." The emotional strain, he says, nearly derailed him.

"I went through a depressive state. I blamed myself at one point, thinking I was the reason she wasn't getting better. I felt helpless," he said. Despite the emotional toll, Brown said his mother's condition has become part of his purpose.

"It made me consider becoming a psychologist or doctor, just so I could understand and help people like her. Even now, I want to make sure whatever I do in education has impact, especially for families like mine."

In his first year, he worked a minimum wage job on campus, juggling shifts with class deadlines.

"Whatever I earned went straight back to the school," he said. "It was never enough, but I didn't have any other choice." His first teaching practicum this year was an awakening.

"When I walked into the classroom and saw my evaluator at the back, I thought 'Wow, I'm really going to be a teacher,'" he admitted. "I had to learn on the go. It wasn't easy, but I adjusted."

The road hasn't been smooth. During the pandemic, Brown missed five months of school as he had no device or Internet to connect to online classes.

"Some of my teachers let me come to school to use the computers, but I couldn't go every day." Classmates helped him stay afloat, sharing notes when he couldn't attend class. He stayed connected to teachers and slowly caught up.

"It was a rough time. But I kept going."

Now living with a family friend who took him in during a rough patch, he continues to push forward.

"If it weren't for her, I don't know where I'd be," he said.

In his community, Brown has become a quiet source of inspiration as parents ask him to help tutor their children.

"Everyone looks up to me now," he said. "That wasn't happening before, nobody knew what I was capable of."

Beyond a career, Brown is on a mission. In addition to IT, he said he is passionate about biochemistry and physics, subjects that students fear. He wants to change that.

The JPS Foundation Power Up programme, launched in 2024, is part of a five-year STEM education strategy to expand access to science and technology training across Jamaica. It has awarded 25 scholarships and grants, valued at $6.18 million. The initiative supports national development goals, including Jamaica's Science and Technology Policy. Brown sees himself as part of that national mission.

"This scholarship is helping me stay in school, yes," he said, "but more importantly, it's helping me believe that I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be."

And for those following in his footsteps, he advised, "You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to start and keep showing up."