PALAS Students making big strides in JAMAICA: 5 of Jamaica's promising UWI graduates under 25...Nicole Nation, medical student and author of this article & Steven Jackson, Lawyer, whose roots are from Jarrett Lane (Mtn View Ave) are both PALAS recipients.

BY NICOLE NATION Career and Education writer  for the Jamaica Observer Sunday, November 09, 2014    

THEY'RE five of Jamaica's influential youngsters, representative of what the country's youth are capable of. These young Jamaicans and University of the West Indies (UWI) graduates are smart and full of ideas, proving that the future of Jamaica is bright.

Steven Jackson

Steven Jackson Tariq Parker

At just 22, Kingstonian Steven Jackson is the proud holder of a UWI honours degree in law. It is said that Sagittarian men are wise intellectuals and this can be said of Jackson, who even as a Kingston College student, demonstrated great promise as evidenced by his insatiable thirst for knowledge. His friends say he would never miss an opportunity to win an argument, even if his views weren't popular.

Jackson has interned with prestigious law firms including Bailey, Terrelonge and Allen, and Swaby-Samuels and Associates, where he assisted some of the Caribbean's best legal minds in the preparation of cases for the Supreme Court of Jamaica, the Family Court and the Resident Magistrate's courts. His diverse skill set proved to be valuable in that he also prepared legal material for media presentations as well as accounting documents for clients.

He works with Professor Verene Shepherd on the Nationwide News Network programme Talking History.

This go-getter is also the treasurer of the Mona Law Society and a mentor in the society's 'Save the Males' initiative. Jackson also has vocal prowess as he is the head chorister of the esteemed Kingston College Chapel Choir.

Tariq Parker

Malysha Kelly Yanique DaCosta

Nicole Nation, PALAS recipient
& Medical student at UWI
received a BSc degree in Science
 with honors in Oct 2014.
She will receive her Medical degree
in 2 years from UWI.

Twenty-three-year-old Tariq Parker vividly recalls that as a young boy, he wanted to be an astronaut, inventor, then a physicist or even a lawyer like his father. However, his aptitude for science was the driving force behind his decision to become a doctor. As a student at Wolmer's Boys', he demonstrated his prowess in the sciences, as he gained 19 distinctions in his CXC, CSEC, and CAPE examinations. This progressive thinker is a graduate of the UWI's medical programme with an honours degree. He also recently received honours in general medicine, general surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology. Additionally, he received the subject prizes for the best top Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) student in internal medicine and general surgery across the UWI's four campuses. His friends will tell you that he is always laughing and that his smile is infectious.

His very laid-back personality will see him on the weekends liming with friends. more