IN JAMAICA: Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce urges scholarship recipients to dream big....awards 8 academic scholarships through her Pocket Rocket Foundation

BY SHERDON COWAN  Friday, October 03, 2014  

JAMAICA'S queen of sprint Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce urged this year's recipients of academic scholarships through her Pocket Rocket Foundation to rise above difficult circumstances in order to excel and fulfil their dreams.

Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (centre) shares a moment
with recipients of academic scholarships from her Pocket Rocket
 Foundation (from left) Zinedine Russell (Convent of Mercy);
Okhalia Buchanan (Wolmer's); Nicholas Haughton (Campion
College); Janeek Brown (Wolmer's); Pierce-Matthew McKenzie
 (Campion College); Romae Quarrie (Campion College);
 Shadae Grant (St Jago) and Patrick Morgan (Jonathan Grant)
at a meet and greet at Sagicor's head office yesterday.

"Be persistent... persevere even when others think you are not going to make it, or when the challenge seems so overwhelming for most of you and you sit and wonder how are you going to get to the next level... just know it is possible. I am your testimony, standing right here, that it is possible and that is the reality that I want to give you," she said while addressing the meet-and-greet session at Sagicor's head office yesterday.

Fraser-Pryce declared to the recipients that she has travelled the same path in her life before she ascended to prominence, and encouraged them not to be "ashamed of their circumstances" but instead think about how to deal with [these circumstances], because that will lead ultimately to fulfilment.

"I want to give you the opportunity to not worry about the book, not to worry about uniform, not to worry about not having the basic things to survive. But what I want you to worry about is what you are going to do when you sit around that desk with that paper in front of you... I want you to think about your dreams; I want you to think about when you are going to do CXC or CAPE.

"I want you to think about athletics; I want you to think about the time that you are going on the track... whatever you do as a sport ,that is what I want you to think about. So you are building your dream and your life through education and your sport and you are combining both of them and giving yourself a chance to excel", added the double sprint champion. more