‘Believe in yourself’ encourages Sagicor Scholar Savannah McDonald 
By the time she received her acceptance letter to study Integrated Marketing Communication at the University of the West Indies in 2019, St Jago High School sixth former Savannah McDonald already had a ‘scholarship bank’ prepared and was ready to start applying. She advises prospective scholarship recipients to do the same.
“It is of extreme importance to start early,” she said. “I hunted for scholarships after school almost every day, to the point where I created my own scholarship bank via Google Drive. An Instagram account called 'scholarshipjamaica' also helped me to find scholarships.”
Though she cast her net wide by applying for numerous scholarship programmes, Savannah was most excited to be award a Sagicor Foundation scholarship, as it automatically renewed every year of her degree tenure once she continued to excel.
“I have always admired Sagicor's approach to social impact and I wanted to be a part of that in some way,” McDonald added. “My mentor at the time and someone who I still admire, Shemar Findley, was awarded a Sagicor Foundation scholarship in 2018, and he told me all about the programme, and I was really excited to be a part of it.”
Now in her final year of undergraduate studies, McDonald said that being a Sagicor scholar did not only benefit her financially, but it also boosted her personal development. Now working as a Digital Content Executive and Freelance Lifestyle Writer, Savannah is on the launchpad of achieving her dreams.
“I want to venture into multiple areas as my life progresses,” Savannah said boldly. “Just like Usain Bolt said, ‘Anything is possible; I don't think limits’.”
Her goals include developing social impact projects for vulnerable women and girls, professional foreign language translation, founding a sustainable fashion business and creating a foundation for youth with chronic illnesses. She is also fond of the e-sports industry and intends to invest in it one day.
“Overall, I want to inspire others and empower people to believe in themselves despite their socio-economic background,” she said. “My father, Andrew McDonald, instilled in me the confidence to become an icon in anything I set my mind to, and I will do just that.”