Fitzroy Pablo Wickham with his mother, Florence Wickham (on left) and sister, Kimberly Wickham (on right).

Fitzroy Pablo Wickham with his mother, Florence Wickham (on left) and sister, Kimberly Wickham (on right).

Photo: Contributed / Fitzroy Wickham /

Fitzroy Pablo Wickham with his mother, Florence Wickham (on left) and sister, Kimberly Wickham (on right).

Fitzroy Pablo Wickham with his mother, Florence Wickham (on left) and sister, Kimberly Wickham (on right).

Named a Rhodes Scholar, Wesleyan University senior wants to give other Jamaican youth opportunity to achieve

MIDDLETOWN Fitzroy Pablo Wickham said he laughed when when his pre-college adviser asked him to seriously consider applying for a Rhodes scholarship.

Now a senior at Wesleyan University Wickham was named the 2021 Rhodes Scholar for Jamaica. The prestigious award grants him a full scholarship to the University of Oxford for his postgraduate studies.

Wickham, a senior neuroscience and theater double major at Wesleyan , plans to pursue a masters and a doctorate in neuroscience at Oxford before attending medical school. He believes this prestigious scholarship is one piece of his long-term plan.

When he first learned hed been named a Rhodes Scholar, he physically choked trying to verbalize his overwhelming feeling of shock and gratitude, he said.

Wickham said he believed the Rhodes scholarship was an impossibility for him and shared that he had laughed when the pre-college adviser asked about about applying.

I never thought a person like me, a rural boy from Jamaicas countryside could attain such an honor, he said.

Still, he thought why not, and applied.

Wickham noted that growing up in a single-mother household in Browns Town, Jamaica, he has always felt that youngsters from similar parts of the country have an untapped potential, but lack the resources to pursue their dreams.

Wickham said he intends to open his own practice and research lab in Jamaica after completing medical school, with this goal at the forefront of his mind. His achievements now are laying the foundation for him to invest in Jamaican youth, he said.

I want them to have the opportunity to achieve their wildest dreams because they have so much innate ability but they just lack the resources or the nudge from someone to say, yes you can do it and the belief in them to pursue, he said.

Wickham credits his mother with fostering his voracious appetite to read and learn. He recalls his mother handing him books whenever she could and providing him creative outlets to explore all the information he was absorbing. She told him to get a good education because that is something no one can steal from you.

Several scholars are looking forward to what Wickham will do in the future. Rashida Shaw McMahon, an associate English professor at Wesleyan, said she believes he is someone to look out for on the global stage.

She describes him as an infectious conduit of energy, who impressed her with his ability to think scientifically while remaining incredibly considerate of others viewpoints.

Wickham said he was 10 when he discovered Dr. Charles Drew and was fascinated by his contributions to modern-day blood transfusions and banks. He thought he would become a cardiologist then but after further exploring human anatomy his outlook changed. He decided the brain is, Gods most beautiful creation.

He is in awe of its intricate design, emotional stimulus and the checks and balances the organ provides. Wickham was compelled to continue with neuroscience even more after his grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease a couple years ago. Research of neurological disorders became his new calling.

Watching her forget things and slowly digress propelled Wickham toward neuroscience even more. He hopes to contribute to research for a cure that will end the diseases heartbreak for many.

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Named a Rhodes Scholar, Wesleyan University senior wants to give other Jamaican youth opportunity to achieve - Middletown Press