Portland teen seeks scholarship aid after loss and illness to start UTech business degree

Natala Wallace, 19, of Windsor Forest in East Portland has faced a string of setbacks that nearly ended her education. Within months she buried her mother, walked away from sixth form, and later underwent two operations after a medical emergency. She now calls that recovery a “second chance” and wants to finish the schooling she believes her late mother would expect her to complete.

Before those losses, Wallace’s path looked secure. She left high school as valedictorian, and her younger brother was named top boy at the same school. She also earned nine CSEC passes — an achievement she tied directly to her mother.

“My mom had me when she was 17 years old, so she always told me if that, if I passed my subjects, I would be doing it for her,” Wallace said. She described the nine subjects as her way of honouring that wish.

Only weeks after the family celebrated those results, her mother’s health collapsed. Wallace said her mother seemed well after graduation, then developed breathing problems toward the end of July. Multiple tests failed to identify the illness. An autopsy after her death on September 17, 2023, showed stage-four cancer. The burial followed in October.

The death came as Wallace was about to enter lower sixth. Grief took over. “I wanted to make her proud but I just lost it. She was buried in October and, after that, I just completely stopped going to school and have been fighting to survive.”

For almost three years she focused on getting by. She worked in shops, at a call centre and at two pharmacies, and also earned money as a lash technician. In that period she applied to the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) for a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Another blow came when she fell ill and spent two weeks at Port Antonio Hospital — an ordeal that revived memories of her mother’s final days and made clear she had been surviving day to day while her plans stayed unfinished.

“Truth be told, in the hospital I was in a life-and-death situation. I was like ‘I can die young and not get to fulfill my promise to my mom’, and I have just been in survival mode for the last three years. So I was like, no man, I want to finish school. God gave me a second chance to start over and finish what I came here to do,” she said softly.

That resolve has brought her back toward campus. Wallace has been accepted at UTech for a business degree and is due to start on August 31. Money remains the main barrier. She first won a place in 2024 but deferred because she could not pay. Her father and aunt covered the enrollment fee and have promised further help, yet she still needs scholarship support.

“I want a scholarship to help me out a little,” she said. “I am hoping to find scholarship opportunities that can provide some assistance and help ease the cost of pursuing my education.”

She told THE STAR she has thought about a student loan but worries about the debt. Still healing from surgery, she has not been able to return fully to work or hand-deliver every appeal she has written. Even so, she is fixed on proving herself again.

“My mom will be proud, too, and I have a second chance to try again,” she added.