Young scholar rises above Riverton roots to pursue dreams

BORN and raised in one of Kingston’s inner-city communities, Javon Gentles knows what it is like to lose opportunities due to his Riverton City address rather than his credentials. But when he took the stage at the Burger King National Scholarship Awards last Tuesday, he showed up as a testament to perseverance and being able to rise above the limitations placed on him. “I grew up in a community where potential is everywhere, but opportunities are often scarce.

Growing up there taught me resilience and resourcefulness. It also taught me the hard truth: Sometimes people will see your address before they see your character, your abilities, or your potential. “But I learned that I could not control the assumptions others made.

What I could control was what I believed, the opportunities that were brought to me, and the place in which I wanted to go — the direction in which I wanted to choose to take. And I choose greatness,” declared Gentles, as he spoke on behalf of the 2026 cohort of scholars at the AC Hotel Kingston. The scholarships — valued at more than $14 million and awarded to 34 high achievers and are granted by Restaurant Associates Limited, franchise operator of Burger King in Jamaica — provide funding to students who sat the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) exam and are entering secondary schools, as well as students heading into accredited local universities.

Standing proudly as the recipient of the ‘Open Tertiary Male Bursary’ award, Gentles shared that he learnt from an early age that success did not happen by chance, but by sacrifice, determination, and resilience. On his quest for greatness, Gentles did not squander his time as a student at St George’s College, serving in various leadership roles and amassing 10 grade ones at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level, and four distinctions across both units of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Yet, even with an exemplary academic record, his dreams of advancing to the tertiary education level remained uncertain.

“A dream that I have carried for years, [is] becoming a neurosurgeon. But, of course, with my background, eventually my dream, you know, it’s a difficult reality. I had the hope, I had the motivation, I had the grace and the feeling of experience, yet the financial reality of pursuing my career at The UWI [University of the West Indies] forced me to ask a…