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| Dr. Venicia Cruickshank, former PALAS recipient. |
Dr. Venicia Cruickshank first received the Peace and Love Academic Scholarship (PALAS) in 2012-2013 at the 2nd award ceremony which was held at Excelsior High School in Kingston, Jamaica.
Venicia at the time was very quiet, confident and was destined to meet her goal to be a medical doctor.
In her 3rd year as a medical student she experienced some challenging times to raise the funds to pay for the J$2.8 million per year tuition. She was not sure if she could continue with the very expensive costs at UWI.
She reached out to PALAS Exec. Director, Rula Brown for some help. He was able to raise J$105,000.00 and paid it directly into her account at UWI. Additionally, she worked with her family members to raise an additional JA$260,000.00 from a bake sale.
The Waterford, St. Catherine resident was able to continue with the medical program after Rula contacted his personal doctor, Dr. Dharmaraj Patil for assistance. At the time Venicia wrote, I am from a single-parent household of three; my mother is the sole-bread winner for two dependent children, myself and an older sibling. In addition to utility bills, food, school and other living expenses she pays a mortgage. As such, her monthly pay is far spent. She is unable to take out any further loans as her debt ratio is high.
Over the past two years, “I have gained a sense of calm and added determination to continue perusing this field of study as medicine continues to be my passion.” With the award of the PALAS scholarship for the 2012-2013 academic year this adds to the available funds to her education which goes a long way with books and other fees.
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