Janitor beats odds to become math teacher - Mark Bolton moved from cleaning classrooms to delivering lessons

When 34-year-old Mark Bolton steps into his mathematics classroom at Newell High School in St Elizabeth, he does so with the same determination he once used to scrub floors as a janitor at Church Teachers' College, which he did for eight and a half years, beginning in 2017.

"Before I started attending the college, I would see students go through the system, and they'd always encourage me to start at some point," he recalled.

Although he had the qualifications since graduating from Christiana High School in 2009, money stood in the way. For years, he watched others move ahead while his own dreams were paused.

"Because of financial constraints, I didn't know how to finance myself," he said. "But I always wanted to do something more with my life."

During the summer of 2021, a chat with some friends at the gym changed everything - a simple conversation that turned years of hesitation into a moment of courage.

"I was telling my friends I needed to do something with my life," he said. "They told me, 'You already have the subjects and you're working at a college, why not apply?'"

He took their advice, applied to Church Teachers' College, and was accepted to pursue a degree in mathematics and science.

"I did the interview online because it was COVID time," he recalled. But even after being accepted, Bolton didn't know how he would pay the fees.

"I just paid what I could to start somewhere," he told THE WEEKEND STAR. When he tried to secure a student loan, several potential guarantors turned him down.

"I reached a point where I didn't know who else to call. My brother suggested I ask my uncle's wife, she's a teacher, and she agreed. She became my guarantor and mentor, and that's when everything started to move."

Before he landed the janitor job, Bolton had already spent years trying to find his footing. After leaving high school, he tried to follow his father, a bodywork technician, then spent a few years installing cable lines under a utility contract, before taking short-term jobs.

"I've always known myself to be working," he said. "[I was] never someone laid-back."

While studying, each evening tested his endurance, but giving up never crossed his mind. He had waited too long for a chance like this.

"Sometimes I started at 6:30 a.m. and finished around 3:30 p.m., then classes began at 5 p.m.," he said. "Sometimes classes went until eight at night, and with curfew during the pandemic, I couldn't get a taxi home, so one night I had to sleep on campus." At first, he didn't have Internet at home, and his phone wasn't strong enough; but he still made it work. Bolton relied on his co-workers to finish cleaning early so he could log in to class on time.

"There were a lot of times I felt like giving up," he admitted. "But my friends always encouraged me to hold on because I was almost at the end of the tunnel."

By his second year, he used part of his modest salary to pay for boarding near the college so he could focus on his studies. Bolton's journey came full circle when he graduated and began teaching mathematics at Newell at the start of this school year.

"It's going good so far," he said. "It's a profession with its ups and downs, but I'm trying to make my impact and be a positive role model." He chose mathematics because it was always his strongest subject. Teaching has been transformative.

"The profession comes with a lot of responsibility, how you act, how you behave. It changed everything about me," he said. He advised others that it doesn't matter where they're coming from or what they're doing, they can always have a positive outcome in life.

"Being around positivity makes you think positive, and you can achieve whatever you want once you have a strong mind, good influence, and God, of course."