Metallica Scholars award inspires student to achieve more

Jeffrey Stewart has only lived in the United States since November 2022. Originally from Jamaica, the ECTC Engineering and Electronics Technology (EET) student and Metallica Scholar has had to adapt to a new culture and learning environment and make a whole new set of friends.

“I moved to an area that I knew nothing about, and I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb,” he said. “But I’ve met and interacted with so many different people and learned how different and yet how similar we all are. It’s given me a better understanding of people.”

EET was a perfect fit for Stewart because he enjoys dismantling things to see how they work, pulling apart appliances to repair them and trying to fix things that weren’t broken in the first place, he said. He was selected as a Metallica Scholar because of his dedication to his studies and his hard work.

“I’ve been very impressed with Jeffrey, both as a student and as a member of the college’s VEX Robotics team,” said EET professor Marty Sutherland. “He takes the time to really learn the material and I know that he will do great things.”

“That fact that I was selected as a Metallica Scholar out of all the students they could have selected makes me believe that I can do anything I put my mind to,” Stewart said. “It means that my instructors saw something in me that I might not have seen in myself. It has inspired me to want to do more.

Stewart plans to transfer to a four-year university after graduating from ECTC, to continue his engineering studies.

“ECTC is a school that rewards,” he said. “It helped me discover my path and I am very grateful. It has truly been fulfilling to be a student here and I will carry all my experiences on to future endeavors.”