With all the negativity at the head of many recent conversations involving Black people and education — the CRT debate, modern-day racism and discussions on gender identity are just a few examples — it’s always nice to have a moment where we can actually celebrate Black excellence in the school system.
18-year-old Makenzie Thompson is the latest to become an academic beacon of hope after the Georgia high school senior made our whole community proud by obtaining over $1.3 million in scholarship offers from 49 out of the 51 universities that she applied to for college.
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As she told CNN, Thompson didn’t even plan on applying to 50+ schools but was quickly swayed by attending college fairs and receiving multiple fee waivers. Even though the number of acceptances is currently at 49, she’s still waiting to hear back from one more that can push that number to a solid 5-0.
More on Makenzie Thompson’s exciting academic future below, via CNN:
“‘It was a very, very good experience, just to see your hard work paying off and getting to see them just pile up in a folder,’ she told CNN.
‘My family is ecstatic,’ she said. ‘Getting 49 acceptances and over 1.3 million, they’re like ‘wow, you’re going places.”
Thompson has been a star student throughout high school, which she credited to strict time management. ‘Without time management, or knowing how to multitask, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything,’ she said.
Thompson serves as her senior class president at Westlake High School in Atlanta, the co-captain of the Blue Reign dance team, the vice president of Beta Club (a community service organization) and a varsity baseball manager. She’s also a member of the national honor society and the honor society of dance and arts.”
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For those wondering, Makenzie ended up choosing the prestigious Alabama-based HBCU, Tuskegee University. “It gave me the feeling that I was at home,” she told CNN after visiting the campus, which has a strong history of Black veterinarians that’ve graduated. She plans to study animal science at Tuskegee.
Congratulations again, Makenzie Thompson! Keep making the world proud.
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Black Georgia Teen Receives Over $1.3M In Scholarships From 49 Of The 51 Colleges She Applied To was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
