Follow your dreams to a brighter future...

Sharay Burrows took her own advice ? and last Friday was among 13 proud graduates of the Financial Services Academy Bermuda.

The Second Graduation Ceremony was for students who took part in a four-week programme on financial services.

Also present at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute were Acting Minister of Education Walter Lister, ACE Foundation executive director Ralph Richardson?s and the New England College of Finance?s Robert Regan, as well as families and friends.

?I commend all my classmates for taking the initiative to learn more to better their lives. The Academy opened my eyes and upgraded my knowledge of insurance, reinsurance, law, banking and much more,? Ms Burrows said.

?Please keep following your dreams because when we fall it is meant for us to pick ourselves up. You are all capable of accomplishing your goals, do not look back for there is a brighter future waiting for you in the financial services industry.?

Also graduating from the academy were Caltequa Blakeney, Terita Flood, Daitona Gibbons, Kinika Harvey, Shannon Harvey, Ajale Jones, Maryam Rasheed, Keivon Richardson, Callie Smith, Sa?Rah Warren, Ter-Rae Weeks-Swan and Justina Wilson.

The purpose of the Financial Services Academy is to provide access to good jobs for young people who are entering the financial services industry or who are changing careers and want to enter this industry.

The Financial Services Academy Bermuda was established in 2004 as a service of New England College of Finance based in Boston and its Bermuda partners.

The Academy has a Bermuda board of overseers made up from people from the Ministry of Education and corporate partners in Bermuda.

These corporate partners include Bank of Bermuda, Butterfield Bank, ACE Limited, XL Capital Limited, BF&M, Argus Group, Ernst & Young and the Bermuda Stock Exchange, among others.

The certificate programme culminated with a job fair where the students met corporate representatives who interviewed the students.

At the job fair they were given information about the financial services industry and gaining employment.

?During the past four weeks I have had the opportunity to work closely with these students and I have seen their insecurity and uncertainty transformed into self confidence and enthusiasm,? Financial Services Academy director of operations Linda Fera said.

?I have seen first hand their determination and willingness to learn and to prepare not just for a job, and not just for a position but a career in this industry.?

?I couldn?t be more pleased with their performance, these outstanding men and women have done a wonderful job. As individuals they impressed the interviewers at the job fair with their professionalism, presentation skills and their knowledge of the industry.?