Kearra’s talent and enthusiasm for hands-on work have inspired her to choose a hands-on career.

Sixteen-year-old Kearra finds it hard to sit still and focus for long periods, but she loves working with her hands – and already earns a little income by making and selling resin keyrings.

The Achieve programme in Barbados has supported Kearra to explore career options that align with her strengths and interests. Kearra now has her sights set on becoming a massage therapist, and is working hard towards her high school exams as the first step on her journey to get there. She describes how the programme helped her to move from confusion to clarity.

‘If you feel confused about yourself or future, you should look into Achieve because it helps to guide you on the right path,’ Kearra explains.

‘If I did not join this programme I think I would have been all over the place and all emotional, trying to figure out what to do. So this was very beneficial for me.’

Learning by doing

Achieve, delivered in Barbados by our partner Supreme Counselling for Personal Development (SCPD), runs through school-based clubs facilitated by specially trained teachers. Aimed at young people at risk of underachieving, the programme focuses on building core skills and confidence through hands-on activities in small groups, helping to set students up for success.

Kearra explains that she particularly enjoyed this hands-on approach, which covered topics such as teamwork, goal setting and career planning in a very practical way. Group challenges and activities ranged from designing logos and solving puzzles to devising ways to drop an egg without it breaking.

The format was very different to her mainstream lessons, which suited Kearra well. ‘I find it difficult to sit for long periods and write all the time,’ she explains, ‘I just need to be doing something with my hands and in Achieve there are always activities.’

Looking to the future

Kearra outlines how the programme helped her to visualise the future she wants for herself, and to understand how her studies at school could help her build towards it.

‘Achieve has opened my eyes to see that my school can give me better opportunities,’ she says.

‘I was not even studying my future before. I only started considering it in fourth form when we touched on the goal setting module.’

As well as supporting her to develop and work towards her goals, the programme has also helped Kearra to boost her skills and confidence, especially around building connections and relationships with others. ‘I was a very shy person and now I am more outgoing, and Achieve is the main reason I think I have improved,’ she reveals.

Now committed to shaping her own future, Kearra plans to study nailcare and massage therapy at college once she finishes school, as the next step towards her goal. ‘I now know what I want to do when I leave school, so it is important to put in the work and stay focused,’ she says.

‘I am proud of myself for where I am now.’