Community News
Striving for excellence, not perfection: The United Achievers 34th Annual Scholarship & Recognition Awards Night
BY: ASHELLY SMITH
Thirty-four years ago, The United Achievers Club of Brampton proudly presented its first scholarship, $250 to a graduating student from Central Peel Secondary School. This year, they recognized 15 outstanding students with scholarships. They are Maysun Arcand, Brianna Brown, Gavin Crawford, Ranice Cumberbatch, Jalen David, Kristian Francis, Cornelia Gillespie, Breanna Jeremiah, Alexis Knowles, Ebonee Lennord, Amarachukwu J. Nwaefidoh, Joseph Ogunnupe, Rajay Pyne, Andrew Skerritt, and Joshua Tulloch. On Saturday, September 15th , 2018, the 34th Annual Scholarship and Recognition Awards Dinner was held in the elegantly-transformed Auditorium at Century Gardens Recreation Centre. The emcee of the night was Jesse Jones who is an innovator, brand builder, speaker, and influencer. To commence the awards night, he welcomed special guests such as Peel Regional Police representatives and sent Mayor Linda Jeffrey ’s greetings. In her greeting message, she thanked The United Achievers’ Club for doing a great job of empowering youths and assisting them with resources they need to reach higher.
Soon, dinner was served by award-winning Chef, Courtney Guy of CG Catering. Dinner was extremely delectable as some guests went back for a second portion. As the audience enjoyed their meals, it was time for the Keynote Speaker, Deputy Chief of Peel Regional Police Ingrid Berkeley-Brown to address the scholarship recipients. Berkeley-Brown has an honors diploma in Social Sciences and is a graduate of the University of Guelph School of Business and Economics with a Masters in Leadership. In her speech, she shared some of her stories from her journey on the importance of practices that helped her to be in the position she currently is in.
The awards night’s theme was a “Tribute to Excellence” which got Deputy Chief Ingrid to critically think about what does excellence actually looks like?
“When I received an African Canadian Achievement Award for Excellence in Law Enforcement; I was very honored to be one of the recipients and receiving that award really got me wondering what excellence looks like on a daily basis and as I thought about it I came to realize that attaining excellence requires hard work, dedication, and resilience.”
Funny enough, she googled the word ‘Excellence’ to make sure she sent her message profoundly to the recipients. She learned that ‘Excel’ is at the root of the word ‘Excellent’ and as she reflected on her journey she noted three strategies that helped her moved forward in her career.
“First, recognizing that setbacks will happen, but they do not have to hold you back forever; always work hard to frame obstacles as opportunities. Second, once you reframe obstacles as opportunities, you need to decide where you want to go and choose to stay the course even when things get tough. People and events may try to redirect you but it’s up to you to stay focused on your path. Third, while you travel along your unique path, expand your networks whenever possible and recognize the value of having a mentor as well as being a mentor” she expressed.
Her journey in becoming a police officer was not an easy road neither was it a predictable one. When she first applied to become a police officer, she was immediately disqualified for failing to meet the mandated height-to-weight requirement for all applicants. Berkeley-Brown continued to emphasize on the inevitability of setbacks. Despite this obstacle, she was undeterred. Five years later, she reapplied for the position and got three interviews with three different police services including Peel Regional Police. Today, she is now the Deputy Chief of PRP. Her story captivated the audience and made everyone reflected on his or her life journey in striving for excellence. As she concluded her speech she gave the recipients homework.
“Given that you all excelled in the classroom and the community, I’m going to conclude with a bit of homework for you. I’ve prepared a list of questions based on the three practices that helped me pursue excellence many years after I left high school. Question 1: When you leave this event, what obstacles are you going to face that has the potential to be framed as opportunities? It’s okay if you can’t see the opportunities yet. Just make a note of the obstacles and share the list with people you trust.
Question 2: Where do you see yourself six months from now? Where do you see yourself one year from now? What can you start doing this week and in the coming months to make sure that you stay on the path you promised yourself today?
Question 3: Who is one mentor that seems so out of reach to you? What exactly is it you’d like to learn from that person? Once you make that list, can you identify people in your community who have a similar skill set to your dream mentor? These local people may be traditional mentors much further along in their careers than you are or they may be peer mentors.”
She concluded by encouraging each recipient to introduce themselves to one another and tell each other one way they could be a mentor to someone else.
The most important part of the evening has finally come; the presentation of 2018 scholarship recipients done by Kathy Mcdonald Education Officer and Marva Hemmings, President of UAC.
Speaking to Toronto Caribbean Reporter, Kristian Francis one of the recipients is a graduate of Mayfield Secondary School who is now enrolled in the Bachelor of Engineering program at Ryerson University spoke about how he felt when he found out he had received a scholarship.
“It was an amazing feeling to be completely honest. I feel so humbled just because it sort of reinforces the reality of really being able to help my parents out. This was a step I could take personally to take part in my own learning and just be able to know that I helped my parents to pay for my education. It was also encouraging to always strive to take care of my own learning and be a part of my learning financially as well.” Francis ended grade 12 with an 88 average and he would like other senior students to not get lazy and spoke about the practices he had to do to maintain his average.
“I made sure I went to bed on time regularly. I balanced time for things I enjoy but nevertheless studying was always my priority.”
Francis achieved academic excellence on the honor roll for five years while balancing a rigorous visual arts program with extracurricular activities such as track and field, basketball, soccer, football, and volleyball.
Joshua Tulloch also spoke with Toronto Caribbean Reporter about how he was feeling on receiving this award.
“I feel very honored getting this scholarship because in a single family where my dad is not with me it really helps me to get to university as it costs a lot of money to go to the school I’m going, which is the University of Waterloo. So, I appreciate the efforts of the people who are running the United Achievers’ Club to help students like me get to where they want to be.” Tulloch had his recommendation to students who want to be successful with a 92 average.
“Work hard in grade 12 and don’t let senioritis get to them and they should go to bed early. They should get rid of the old habits to prepare themselves for university so that they don’t find themselves in the same pitfall they were in before. Eventually, if they keep working hard and dedicate themselves to their work they will succeed.”
Tulloch’s career goal is to obtain a degree in Actuarial Science at the Ph. D. level.
After the presentation of scholarship awards, the United Achievers’ Club recognized and presented community awards to Rose Courtney for outstanding dedication and commitment and service on behalf of the Healthy, Active and Wise Seniors’ program, Deputy Chief Ingrid Berkeley-Brown for her leadership and outstanding service to their community and William Bill Carter was awarded the Unsung Hero Award. Carter volunteers without the expectation of personal reward; the award recognizes him for his decades-long years of active support to the UAC, his contribution to the community and other quiet and altruistic contributions.
Soon the night was over, and the 15 students were happy and thankful for their scholarships. The United Achievers’ Club thanked and recognized their sponsors: Peel Regional Police, DSI Fun Photos, Jennifer Cave-Williams, Jesse Jones (TEN81 Lifestyle Inc.), Dr. Laurie Hill (Brampton Cardio-Pulmonary Services), Vere Park. the United Achievers’ Seniors Group and other generous donors for their financial support. They also thanked other donors to the scholarship fund for the period 2017-2018 through their support of several fund-raising initiatives of the membership, namely the Orlando Bowen, Ingrid Berkeley-Brown, Bernice Carnegie, Courtney Guy, Dr. Winston Isaac, Carol Thompson, Hugh Lawson, Hilarion Mitchell, Glen and Lucinda Sloley, Marjorie Taylor, CMJ Entertainment, Chef Works Canada, Toronto Caribbean Newspaper, Greg’s Appliance & Lock Services Inc., Condo Mechanical Plumbing and Drains Ltd., AAA Janitorial Services, GEMPAC Contracting Inc., “U” Place Home Supplies Inc.