After taking part in a four-day cultural exchange in Panama, 10 Jamaican tertiary students are dubbing the Huawei Seeds for the Future programme as the experience of a lifetime.

The group, which consisted of students studying in STEM – science, technology, engineering and mathematics – fields at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, and the University of Technology, Jamaica, departed the island thinking they would just be getting tips to better themselves in information and technology communications technology (ICT). However, the programme not only equipped them with knowledge to bolster their technical skills but to improve their lives holistically.

The Jamaicans joined students from Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname and El Salvador, engaging in workshops around storytelling, time-management technology and the environment, technology and the creative space, and entrepreneurship and leadership as they explored Panama City.

Brianna Roper, a 20-year-old computer science major at the UWI, Mona, said the programme was exceptional.

 “This has been a phenomenal experience and I’m so grateful to be here,” she told The Gleaner. “At first, I was somewhat hesitant to apply because I thought I might not get it, but being here, I couldn’t be more thankful. It’s been so many new experiences and I’m intent on implementing everything I’ve learned here into my life going forward.”

Roper emerged the top female performer among the 17 participants. Echoing Roper’s sentiments, Janielle McKoy, a 21-year-old student of medical physics at UWI, Mona, said: “It really has been very impactful. I found the sessions very informative and just the whole the group of persons we’re working with. ... It’s very much a diverse group; we’re talking to persons from Trinidad, Suriname, El Salvador! It was a whole group with different personalities and very brilliant students, so having the opportunity to work with them and just interacting and the values they would have imparted on me, it was really special experience.”

Photo caption: Jamaican students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, pose with Huawei ambassador and member of a past Seeds for the Future cohort Ernesto Briceno (centre, back) in the Huawei Innovation Center at MMG Tower in Panama City.

Follow the Faculty of Science and Technology on Instagram @uwimona_fst and on Facebook at @ The Faculty of Science and Technology, The UWI Mona. For enquiries, WhatsApp us at 1-876 552-4691, call us at 1-876-977-1785 or email us at fst@uwimona.edu.jm.

aican students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, pose with Huawei ambassador and member of a past Seeds for the Future cohort Ernesto Briceno (centre, back) in the Huawei Innovation Center at MMG Tower in Panama City. Jamaican students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, pose with Huawei ambassador and member of a past Seeds for the Future cohort Ernesto Briceno (centre, back) in the Huawei Innovation Center at MMG Tower in Panama City. aJamaican students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, pose with Huawei ambassador and member of a past Seeds for the Future cohort Ernesto Briceno (centre, back) in the Huawei Innovation Center at MMG Tower in Panama City. maican students from the University of the West Indies, Mona, pose with Huawei ambassador and member of a past Seeds for the Future cohort Ernesto Briceno (centre, back) in the Huawei Innovation Center at MMG Tower in Panama City.