17-year-old girl gets admitted to 45 varsities with over N1.5bn in scholarships

Abeokuta: Sina ODUNTAN

IVE JONES, a North Carolina graduating senior at Apex Friendship High School has a lot to be excited about after being admitted into 45 universities with over $4 million (N1,561,040,000) in scholarships.

 In spite of the toll of the novel coronavirus pandemic on schools which has affected commencements everywhere, Jones is still celebrating her admirable accomplishment.

The 17-year old is graduating with distinction with acceptance letters from 45 out of the 50 schools she applied to and more than $4 million in academic scholarships.

Grass to grace: Single mum and high school dropout now with own 5-bedroom house shares story Becauseofthemwecan.com reports that Jones has indicated that she was motivated by other black kids doing same.

Jones worked hard to get to where she is today. At just 11 years old, she organised a fundraising campaign to help children in Africa who were orphaned as a result of the Ebola pandemic, setting an initial goal of $4,000 and raising nearly $30,000.

In 2019, she also organised a health conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, to encourage young women and people of colour to pursue careers in STEM.

She has always had an interest in the health sector and has focused most of her energy thus far on making an impact there.

"As a student, these things are things we’re going to be discussing in class and I’m going to need to know thoroughly in order to apply my knowledge later on," she told becauseofthemwecan.com.

Ive has settled on Princeton University where she plans to major in Global Health on a full scholarship.

Proud mother Stella Damasus gushes as daughter gets full scholarship to Ivy League university.

Her mother, Catherine Jones, who’s from West Africa, said she’s just so proud of her daughter.

"I’m immensely proud of her. She’s just a hardworking person. [Graduation] was a moment we’ve looked forward to," Catherine Jones said.

In spite of the impact of the dreaded coronavirus pandemic, Catherine said "in everything you have to find gratitude. And you know, at the end of the day we’ll still get to celebrate".

Ive is still hoping that she can celebrate with her class when the global pandemic is over.

Meanwhile, another 16-year-old Nigerian identified as Oyebola Ajayi-Bembe has bagged presidential scholarship into 20 notable universities in the United States.

The disclosure was made during a high school graduation ceremony held recently in New Jersey.  There is a 'genius' in every Nigerian family.