{"id":2140,"date":"2019-02-06T18:32:05","date_gmt":"2019-02-06T18:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2140"},"modified":"2019-02-06T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-06T18:32:09","slug":"deeside-police-graduates-top-of-her-batch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/?p=2140","title":{"rendered":"Deeside police graduates top of her batch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><em>Sashane Shakes<\/em><\/strong> &#8211; <em>Staff\nReporter<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The determination to persevere when caught face to face with\nadversity builds character, and there\u2019s none other than Trelawny\u2019s Donique\nAnderson who can vouch for that at this very moment. At just 22 years old,\nAnderson was the only female of the 196 constables to graduate from her batch \u2013\nBatch 119 \u2013 at the National Police College of Jamaica at Twickenham Park in Spanish\nTown on Wednesday (January 30). She also obtained the highest overall score\nfrom her batch.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years ago, however, as soon as her pursuit of becoming a\npolice officer took off, she was struck by an illness that seemed intent on\nwiping out her dreams in one blow. After being tested for jaundice and\nleptospirosis, it was later discovered that she suffered from Autoimmune\nHepatitis. With this, her liver was swollen and not functioning properly. She\nunderwent a series of unbearable stomach pains and a swollen belly which, on\nFebruary 29, 2017, forced her to discontinue training and seek medical\nattention. As a result, Anderson was hospitalized for six weeks at the Falmouth\nPublic Hospital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A FIGHTER<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt was a really hard time for me. I was missing training;\nit\u2019s my career and I take it very seriously, so you can imagine how hard I had\nto take it,\u201d she lamented. \u201cThe hardest part of it all was seeing my mother\neveryday at the hospital and knowing there was nothing either of us could do to\nmake it better.\u201d Anderson\u2019s mother, Gem Donald, who works at the Falmouth\nPublic Hospital, admitted that it was a difficult period for her as a parent to\nsee her youngest child suffer in such a way. \u201cNo parent can ever say that is an\neasy experience, but she\u2019s a fighter so I knew she would fight and win in the\nend.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Anderson admits that on some occasions when her mother would\nvisit her in hospital, nothing would be said between the two, but they\nunderstood and shared the pain in silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">From Deeside in Trelawny, the former Holland High student\nrevealed that she signed up to join the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF)\nnearing the end of high school. \u201cI felt very lucky when I got accepted almost\nimmediately after applying because I\u2019ve heard stories of persons applying and having\nto wait for years before they get accepted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>&nbsp;STUDIED WHILE HOSPITALIZED<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Owing to the encouragement and support of her family\nmembers, especially her mother and friends that rallied behind her when she\nneeded hope, Anderson studied endlessly while hospital-ridden. \u201cI\u2019m\nself-motivated, but the encouragement from my mom, family and friends really\nhelped to keep me grounded. I studied a lot while in hospital. My training\nofficer, Inspector Barbara Robinson, and the Deputy Commander for training,\nDeputy Superintendent Annette Duncan, have always been there for me as well,\u201d\nshe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI really wanted to make a difference with my life. Where\nI\u2019m from in Deeside there\u2019s not a lot of individuals doing things meaningful. I\ndidn\u2019t want to be one of the young people on the road not being productive,\u201d\nshe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donald, who is more than elated at her daughter\u2019s\nachievements, told the Western Mirror that, \u201cWords can\u2019t explain. I\u2019m feeling\nso good. I\u2019m so proud of her. I\u2019ve been the happiest since her graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As for her career, Anderson hopes that where she is placed,\nshe will have a positive impact on every position she may hold in the future.\nWith nine (9) CSEC subjects under her belt, Anderson hopes to pursue a career\nin Journalism sometime in the future but for now, her focus is on protecting\nthe innocent and serving her country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sashane Shakes &#8211; Staff Reporter The determination to persevere when caught face to face with adversity builds character, and there\u2019s none other than Trelawny\u2019s Donique Anderson who can vouch for that at this very moment. At just 22 years old, Anderson was the only female of the 196 constables to graduate from her batch \u2013 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1124,1130,1129,1131,1125,1128,1127],"class_list":["post-2140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-deeside","tag-donique-anderson","tag-fighter","tag-national-police-college","tag-police-graduate","tag-studying","tag-top-of-her-batch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2142,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140\/revisions\/2142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/westernmirror.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}