By Tanya Ellis, Gleaner Writer
Mills: I am looking forward to the experience of living and studying abroad. I'm not too worried about the cold weather. I'm a Jamaican, I can handle almost anything. - Ricardo Makyn/Staff Photographer
GLEANER REPORTER Claude Mills, 27, breaks age barriers to become one of the youngest ever awardees of the Commonwealth Press Union's (CPU), Gordon N. Fisher Fellowship for 2004/2005.
The fellowship, funded by the Alva Foundation, is administered by the CPU and is usually granted to one Commonwealth journalist over the age of 35 each year. This opportunity allows the winner to spend a year at the University of Toronto doing postgraduate studies in a field of his choosing.
Mills believes that the opportunity should aid in his future career development in the field of journalism a field that he calls his "first true love". He has been employed to The Gleaner, one of the largest and oldest newspapers in the Caribbean, for nine years after being discovered by Editor-in-Chief Garfield Grandison while Mr. Mills was a contributor to the Youthlink publication. After seeing Mr. Mills' budding literary talent, Mr. Grandison invited him to join the company full-time.
Mr. Mills says that "it was a very easy decision" to give up his accounting job and take up the offer in 1995 because of his journalism dream.
He wants one day to write science fiction and horror novels and deems this academic programme as the perfect opportunity for him to explore new academic skills, investigate new schools of thought and, of course, recharge those run-down batteries.
ANTICIPATION
"I never thought that I would be proud to be a 'fellow' a word that takes on various negative meanings in Jamaica, but I am looking forward to a year without the 'deadline pressure' of chasing stories so I can recharge the old Duracells," he said with a wry smile.
Fellows are free to enrol in any graduate or undergraduate course and use the full facilities of the University of Toronto. The programme typically combines general education with concentration in at least two courses; one academic course must be taken in full and all assignments completed.
In a parallel, extra-curricular programme, the journalism fellows meet regularly in informal seminars to discuss contemporary issues with personalities from a wide variety of professions. He will be unable to work professionally throughout his academic year, but does not view it as a potential deterrent to his future success. He sees the opportunity as an integral part of his ambitions for success and future growth to move further ahead in terms of communication skills and social diversity.
Mr. Mills' colleagues commended him for his raw writing talents and elegantly descriptive writing style, but Claude is very modest painfully so about his accomplishments. He said, " I am pleased that I have been able to represent the voices of the disenfranchised of the population during my career." He went on to say that he is just enjoying 'his moment' and added that, clim-bing to the top of the journalism industry is not his priority. Instead, it is the freedom to explore new ideas and reflect his passions through writing.
CONFIDENT
The interpersonal skills he has acquired at The Gleaner are diverse, and he is confident that he is culturally prepared for student life away from home.
"I am looking forward to the experience of living and studying abroad. I'm not too worried about the cold weather. I'm a Jamaican, I can handle almost anything," he said.
In 1998, Mr. Mills won his first Press Association of Jamaica (PAJ) award for an article he wrote about his experience flying into the eye of Hurricane George in a military plane, alongside scientists measuring the force of the storm as it hit the north coast of Cuba. He won a second PAJ award in 1999 for a series of articles called 'Hourglass Kids', about children dying from childhood cancers and a third award in 2000 for a series called 'Daddy's Little Girls', comprising interviews with survivors of incest. In 2001, Claude gave a memorable first-hand account of a shoot-out with police that occurred in the Braeton Phase III community in St. Catherine, where he has lived for over 20 years. He placed second in the Caribbean Broilers' annual Fair Play awards with that account. He has also written witty off beat articles for Gleaner supplements, including Youthlink, and the Outlook magazine.
Mr. Mills will leave the island later this month to take up his fellowship in Canada.
