My name is Charmaine Joseph I live with my mother, father and three brothers in a beautiful village, near the seashore, called Telescope. I am a fifth form student of one of the best schools in Grenada, the Grenville Secondary School. I am fifteen years old. I have small, brown eyes and thin, dark eyelashes. I have high cheek bones and an oval-shaped face. I have short, straight black hair. I am tall, slender and beautiful. I always smile even when I am distraught. I can be described as a very confident, self-assured and intelligent person. I can also be very adventurous and spontaneous. I really like assisting people.   

          I attended the Stepping Stone Pre-primary School where I started to develop the intellectual aspect of my life. There I made a lot of great friends and the teachers became like family to me. Two years later, I graduated from the Stepping Stone Pre-primary School. Then I went to the St. Andrew’s Methodist School to further my education. As I grew older, I started to take my education more and more serious and in this process I lost many friends but I made new friends and they were always willing to stay by my side. In primary school I had both good and bad experiences. There were times when I wanted to give up but, my mother was always by

my side, she was and still is my number one motivator, and my teachers, GRENED and family always encouraged me to work even hard because with hard work comes success.

          I took part in many different academic activities in St. Andrew’s Methodist School which include; mental math quiz and spelling bees. I tried to do as much schoolwork as possible, especially in grade six because I was very determined to do really good in Common Entrance Examination. My diligence and determination certainly rewarded me when I found out that I passed Common Entrance Examination and I was going to attend the Grenville Secondary School.

          In 2010, I commenced to attend the Grenville Secondary School. It was there I realized that my work was “cut out “for me, as time went by finance became a complication for my mom since she was my main source of finance and she did not have a permanent job. There were times when my mom was actually working more than one job at the same time, just to make sure that my brothers and I had what we needed to go to school everyday.

           One day we then heard about the Grenada Education Development Programme (GRENED). We were told that it was a programme for intelligent students who needed financial assistance. Both my big brother and I became members of GRENED, we were not only supported financially, but we were also supported emotionally and intellectually. Each member of GRENED is assigned to a mentor in which they can have one on one conversation. My brother and I are not the only ones who have benefited, and continue to benefit, from GRENED. There are many other students who benefit from GRENED over the past few years.

          Since I was approximately three years old my goal was to become a doctor in the future and GRENED has aspired me to go after my goal although there will be hard times. I have been doing extremely well in school because of GRENED’s assistance and in return I don’t want to disappoint them but instead I want to make them proud of me. I am doing exceptionally well in school, I have taken part in many competitions in which I have made my school known, with the help of GRENED.

          I am exceedingly grateful for all the help I have acquired and continue to acquire from GRENED. It is my pleasure to be a part of GRENED. I am very thankful to Dr. Dessima Williams and everyone who aids GRENED for the continuous financial, emotional and intellectual assistance and the motivation.