Aspiring actor overcomes drama to land communications degree

Four years ago, Kevan Gilbert was ready to embark on his journey to attain higher academic pursuits, but he was left disappointed after a close relative who had promised to pay for his tuition reneged.

But his defeat has turned into triumph, as in four days, he will be conferred with his Bachelor's of Arts degree in communication studies with an emphasis in television from the Northern Caribbean University (NCU), in Mandeville, Manchester.

"My first passion was acting and I had signed up to attend Edna Manley [College of the Visual and Performing Arts] and I was supposed to go to the auditions to enrol, and my dad pretty much told me that 'You're covered, it's fine, just go and get yourself together, everything would sort out'. But when it was time to pay, he backed out saying he can't afford it and to be honest, I don't remember applying for NCU but I knew I had a second passion which was media," Gilbert related.

Days before the beginning of the 2019 academic year, the 22-year-old was contacted by administrators at NCU. They were seeking his confirmation to attend orientation to the communications programme, to which he had been accepted. The tuition was $224,000 and he was required to pay 70 per cent of that as the deposit.

"I explained to them that I wouldn't be able to finance myself through university and I couldn't afford to pay the deposit. They said to me that I could come and work as a way of helping to pay my tuition, which is what I did," the Windsor Road, St Catherine, native shared. But as he prepared himself for study, one of his aunts died.

"Me going to university was one of the things she looked forward to and because she passed, the goal of attending university, even though it was something I worked for, it felt far from attaining," he said. His grades reflected his depression and sorrow, as for his first two semesters, his grade point averages were 2.3 and 2.6, respectively.

"I'm not coming from a rich family and me deh out here a fail courses and I couldn't even afford it. I had to pull myself out of that state I was in mentally, and in the first semester of my second year, I got my first 3.0 GPA. I went on the Dean's List and I was so happy. From then I didn't come off the Dean's List," he told THE STAR.

This academic performance reminded him of his years at Clarksonville All-Age School in St Ann, where he underperformed before he was placed at Claude McKay High School in Clarendon, after completing the Grade Nine Achievement Test. It was the epiphany he needed to put his best foot forward and make his family proud.

Gilbert's journey, though not complete, is a testament of his hard work and determination, as he laboured as a lab technician to fund his tuition. He was assisted by his mother, who earned a living as a security guard before falling ill.

"I am the first in my immediate family to graduate university. I feel like I have broken the generational cycle and I feel like I have made my mom happy. This degree is also for her and I feel like a lot of what I do in my life is a reflection of what she would've wanted for herself. But she couldn't get it from her parents growing up so I try my best to ensure that I can fulfil it," the elated graduate shared.