The first ever Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) Thomas Jefferson Memorial Scholarship recipient has been selected. She is 18 year old Heidi Bush of East End.
A 2007 honours graduate of John Gray High School, Miss Bush begins a bachelor’s programme with a double major in international business management and finance at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut, later this month.
Miss Bush completed her secondary education with 11 O level passes. She also was one of only five teens in the Caribbean to be awarded the Certificate in Business Studies from the Caribbean Examinations Council in 2007. Since graduating, she worked with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure as an office attendant for nine months.
CIMA’s Managing Director, Mrs. Cindy Scotland, said the Authority was pleased to sponsor Miss Bush: “Heidi has already proven her strong academic potential and I am confident that she will wholeheartedly strive to reach her educational goals. We are committed to being there for her throughout her university education and look forward to helping her successfully navigate from student to career professional in this very important industry.”
For Miss Bush, the youngest of four siblings, receiving the scholarship is not only a privilege; it gives her the chance to carry out an undertaking she gave her late mother, Emelda Dixon.
“I am so honoured to be the first recipient of this award and am thankful that this opportunity from CIMA will help me fulfil one of the very last promises I made to my mother before she died in 2004. It was her dream for me to become a young professional and I know that I am making her happy by fulfilling this promise,” said the award recipient.
She explained that her choice of majors stemmed from Cayman’s reputation as a major financial services jurisdiction. “Coming from a small island that has earned the distinguished reputation of being a leading offshore centre, I found the business programmes of Albertus very appealing,” said Heidi. “I’m looking forward to putting my education to use when I return to do my holiday internships and eventually begin my career at CIMA.”
Established in November 2007 as part of CIMA's 10th anniversary celebrations, the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Scholarship provides assistance to a young Caymanian seeking qualifications for a career in the financial industry.
Mr. Joel Jefferson, son of the late statesman for whom the scholarship is named, commented: “Heidi seems like a bright, ambitious young lady and I hope that she makes her mark as an ambassador for Cayman, just like my father. It feels great that my father’s many years of service to the Cayman Islands is being recognised this way. I’m sure that he would have been quite pleased to see his legacy live on through this programme.”