I have not been TEENage co-ordinator for very long – just two years – but I have been around this group of wonderful young people since I began working at the Jamaica Observer in 2005.

You see, I am not that much older than they are. I listen to the same music they do, generally we watch the same music, live the same life.

I, too, am in love with writing and I am sure that if I’d known about the TEENage Writers’ Club while in high school, I would have definitely been a member. But no sense crying over spilt milk.

I am here now, and my ‘job’ is to guide these young journalists and facilitate the development of their journalistic dream (at least, I hope I am doing that).

I inherited these smart young people from the likes of Karl Angell and Kim Gray-Anderson, who you will hear them speak fondly about.

I am proud that I know them. I am proud that they reflect the excellence that the Jamaica Observer fosters and I am proud that the foundation that they have set is being built sturdily upon.

Academically, they are all doing very well, as you will see. But what we are most proud of is the fact that, members who enter the Club while in high school have gone on to be accepted into the prestigious Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (Carimac) at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. That is no small feat.

And for those who did not choose to pursue journalism, I am still proud and, I am sure, you will come back to your first love.

– Monique Edwards