Andrew Smith/Photography Editor
Darren Hall

Avia Collinder, Outlook Writer

Darren Hall, who hails from Bamboo, a small, rural agricultural town in St. Ann, secured the highest passes internationally, in the 2006 City and Guilds Applied Electrical and Mechanical Engineering diploma programme.

His secret, Darren says, lay in preparing for classes long before the material is presented to the class by teachers.

From early adolescent years, he was fascinated by how things worked, and eagerly took many radios and other technical gadgetry apart in his quest to find this out.

Later, as a student, his enquiring mind and penchant for preparation led to academic success.

In his very first year, there was no hands-on experience for students, but Darren would go into the shop and look at the machines all by himself.

"I wanted to find out about things on my own," he explains. "From I was very small I loved mechanical l things. I would disassemble radios to find out how they worked. I would also put them back together."

He adds, "My uncle, Leonard Guy, was an engineer and I wanted to be like him."

The report from Brown's Town Community College describes Darren as "a very committed and consistent student who, along with his classmates, was constantly engaged in group study sessions in preparation for the external examinations."

The engineering group to which he belonged had several high achievers. The two years spent at Brown's Town Community College, after majoring in technical subjects at York Castle High School, were a revelation, Darren claims.

Bevington Coore, his mechanical engineering teacher, and Andre Clarke, lecturer in physics and electrical sciences, were excellent tutors, the student states.

At the community college he was taught basic electronics, manufacturing and how to build basic car parts, as well as a general and basic knowledge of how machines operate.

"When I first get the notes," he reveals, "I read them immediately. I never leave a page until I feel I completely understand. I tell myself nothing is hard. It's just a challenge - a challenge I can overcome."

Happy mother

When Darren was told about his outstanding grades, he recollects, "I was overjoyed, I could not find words to express myself. I said, 'I am number one!' The feeling was good."

His mom, Georgia Guy, was very, very happy, her son says.

"She was happy for me because she always said she wanted to see me on Schools Challenge Quiz or in The Gleaner. She knew I had the ability."

Darren, who says that he wants to be come an electrical engineer with a career both in Jamaica and abroad, is currently an engineering trainee at Breezes Runaway Bay. There, he is working to save money for further schooling, preferably at the University of Technology

Meanwhile, Darren says he loves "a little football", but principally and predictably, his main hobby is working with computers.

"I like to assemble them. I also love to build new things, including circuits."

While he was at school, Darren was also a member of the Optimist Club and an active member of the Bamboo Tabernacle Church, to which he contributed his time to do community service and leadership development activities. At Bamboo Tabernacle, he remains the leader of the youth group.

Darren Hall believes that what he has done can be achieved by many other young Jamaicans.

"When you have decided what you want to do, keep a positive attitude and tell yourself you can do it," he advises, "and it will be done if you keep at it.

"Stay focused and try your best, because only your best is good enough."