‘I wanted to honour my father’

At 13 years old, Taniel Rose was dealt a painful blow. Her father, Jeff, left their home in Linstead, St Catherine, to purchase an item and did not return.

He has been declared dead and she is still craving closure but despite that, she has repeatedly been successful in her academic pursuits.

The 22-year-old’s latest achievement was to secure a Bachelor of Science degree in dental hygiene from the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), with first-class honours.

Rose told The Gleaner that she struggled emotionally as a student at Immaculate Conception High School but managed to earn eight grade ones and a grade two at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level and grade ones in four double units at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level.

“It’s the worst thing that I’ve experienced. There was no closure. I lost my best friend because I was living with him while my mom was overseas. I was closer to my daddy and I felt like when I lost him, it was at a time when I was growing up and getting to know him better and then he just didn’t come back home,” said the valedictorian nominee.

Whenever she hears a news report of a missing person, it opens up old wounds. When the follow-up news reports say an individual has been found alive, she rejoices.

But she often then questions the reason her own father has not been found.

“Hearing father-daughter songs or seeing fathers and their daughters trigger the worst memories. I was the only child for my dad and it is still very hard for me to cope,” she said in a low tone.

ACCEPTED

Rose had her hopes set on achieving her childhood dream of becoming an orthodontist and applied to the University of Havana in Cuba and The University of the West Indies, Mona.

She was accepted to both universities but her financial reality was not ideal and so she opted for a gap year after completing sixth form.

She secured a job at Ibex, a business process outsourcing company, as a technical support representative and after a year, applied to UTech to pursue a more affordable programme which she described as a stepping stone towards her dream.

Rose recalled that it was tough seeing fellow schoolmates attending university and completing assignments while she was working. She often had to remind herself that she, too, will get the chance to access tertiary education.

She learnt that she could take an accelerated route and complete the four-year degree programme in two years.

However, that meant she would sit eight or nine courses per semester and summer school was mandatory.

She commenced the programme in September 2020 and recounted that the journey was “very draining”.

“I am still trying to figure out how I did it. I had a lot of sleepless nights but I did it with a full-time job. I did school during the day and then worked the eight-hour night shift. I tried to catch up on sleep on the journey to school which was about an hour’s drive,” Rose shared.

Her savings from the gap year, along with her salary covered her first year tuition and she utilised a payment plan to avoid penalties.

On average, she paid between $80,000 to $100,000 monthly but by the time she got to her second and final year, she had depleted her savings.

“My second year modules were more expensive. I had to pay for transportation to and from school as well as work, so if I was able to pay my school fee by myself for the month, I had to rely on mommy for money to cushion me for the next two weeks until I got paid,” she detailed.

ENCOURAGEMENT

Dental clinics were a core part of the dental hygiene programme which required Rose to purchase instruments and find patients to meet her targets for each competency.

“Getting patients with a lot of build-up, plaque and calculus on their teeth was challenging. Most times these were persons who were not able to pay for the treatment and because I needed to meet the targets, otherwise I’d have to spend another semester, I had to pay for patients, pay people’s bus fare and some of them needed lunch,” she recounted.

Dental instruments like mirrors and scalers had to be purchased out of pocket and she needed at least six sets to cover a day’s clinic.

Rose told The Gleaner that her mother Sylvia Campbell was her biggest cheerleader during her university tenure and was always the voice of reassurance when she doubted her potential.

She also expressed gratitude to her aunt who became her guardian after her father’s disappearance.

The graduate said she never had to worry about meals and her aunt also offered financial support when she needed it.

Rose explained that her father’s disappearance weighed on her heavily after she completed high school, often leaving her wondering if she would’ve been better off financially if he were alive.

“I wanted to honour my father. It feels unreal to have finished in two years, and as well as I did. My manager also played a big role in helping me start and complete college. There were nights when I felt like I could not go on, I was overwhelmed with assignment deadlines and my manager motivated and supported me,” she said.

Rose hopes to earn a doctor of dental surgery degree in order to fulfil her childhood dream but in the interim, she is maintaining her job at Ibex and is actively seeking employment at a dental office.

To others who are in a similar situation, she offered the same words of encouragement she was given: “You deserve it. No matter how long it takes, it will happen for you and don’t over think. Find something that motivates you to do your best and believe in yourself.”

judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com