Darren Hall

The community of Bamboo in rural St Ann is proud to have one of its sons, 20-year-old Darren Hall, top the recent City and Guilds worldwide diploma examinations in applied electrical and mechanical engineering. The organisation, which was established over 125 years ago, is the United Kingdom's leading provider of vocational qualifications, with over 850 centres in 100 countries. Darren was chosen from participants in over 80 countries.

Their humble beginnings did not prevent his mother, a housewife and part-time higgler and father, a cook, from taking great interest in the welfare of their children.

"My mother gave all her four children love and put out all that she had so that we could achieve the best in life. My father was really a disciplined man. Whenever I went out of line, he used the strap to put me back in line. His words were ... 'it nuh easy fi mi a work so yuh can get a good education an' yuh a waste time'. I disliked the beating but, I did not dislike him," Darren reasoned with a broad smile.

upcoming genius

At age three, Hall started showing interest in most things electrical. And by age six he was assembling drink boxes in the form of motor vehicles with lights as their main attractions. People in the district who saw his work described him as "great and an upcoming genius". Financial resources were not available in abundance for Darren and his immediate family. However, his extended family - which included aunt, Marcia Davidson and uncle, Leonard Guy was there to assist.

"My uncle and auntie ensured that everything was not left on my mother to finance my schooling and other needs," he shared. Leonard Guy is an engineer and has turned out to have had a lasting impact on his nephew's life. He instilled in the youngster's psyche the idea that obtaining employment would be much easier if he was trained. So when his peers were engaged in entertainment and sports, Darren stayed at home and 'played' with electrical items.

Darren Hall (right) services an air conditioning unit at Breezes Runaway Bay, while colleagues Terrence Thomas (centre) and Clifton Dallas observe.- contributed

good advice

"My uncle used to tell me that I could achieve anything that I wanted in life, by one thing only and that was by hard work. So my approach was, before I left school in the evenings I would go over my notes. When I reached home I would deal with things electrical; then I go to classes early in the mornings and did further reading and research on the subjects that I had studied the day before."

What kind of advice would Darren give to young people who want to be on top of their studies?

"They should approach study by doing things in phases; master each piece before they go on to the other. Don't try to do everything at once. At school I never left a page until everything was covered and understood. They should also put off things that they can do in the future, and idleness has no place with you when you are aiming for a career," Hall, who is a trainee electrical engineer at Breezes Runaway Bay, advised.

Glenroy Hemming, a teacher at York Castle High who taught Darren industrial arts, said he was a quiet and brilliant student and did his work well and in the way that the teachers would have wanted to see every student approach their studies.

"He was one of our best students, and I knew that he would have excelled in his undertakings. This has reinforced that there will be challenges, but when opportunities come people should make use of them and in the end the victory will be very sweet," said Hemming.

Most of his life has been spent going to the Bamboo Tabernacle Church. Its teachings, he said, have helped him to focus on gaining a career and enabled him to shun the posse and crew which many youngsters seem to gravitate towards.

"People in my age group used to say that I was boring, but I enjoyed viewing the Jamaica Public Service work crew fixing electrical lines, just as how they were enjoying dancehall music. I played a little football, but the church was my mainstay. It helped me to stay away from the negativities around me," the young engineer said with confidence.

hard road

Relaxing in his chair at Breezes Runaway Bay, the humble, but proud achiever, who spent two years at Brown's Town Community College, reasoned that education was the key to lasting harmony and that, with more jobs, there would be fewer crimes.

"I had an aim, I wanted to be somewhere, but knew that the road to getting there was not going to be an easy one. I worked hard and did things over and over until everything was right. For me, if one is going to be a footballer or cricketer, they should choose education too, because the sporting career won't last for ever; but the education will always be there."

With all the publicity over his achievement, Darren Hall only wants to be viewed as a normal individual who tried and was successful.

This is a special Gleaner feature in partnership with the Jamaica Information Service (JIS).

- Garfield Angus, JIS Writer