High school student receives over half a million in scholarships

Kenyari Sawyer is truly #BlackGirlMagic. After applying to close to 100 schools, the Albany, Ga. native has been received over $600,000 in college scholarships. Despite being a 4.0 student at Monroe Comprehensive High School, Sawyer actually feared she wasn’t good enough to be granted admission anywhere after being denied admission to Mercer University in Macon, Ga.

“I thought I wasn’t smart enough,” Sawyer told KBTX News. Thankfully, she didn’t allow the setback to dissuade her from continuing to apply. She ultimately received offers of admission from 48 colleges and universities.

Monroe Principal Frederick Polite says Sawyer’s achievements have even inspired her classmates to pursue higher education. “She’s on that college side and she’s getting the other classmates involved,” Polite said. “She’s that person that’s standing in front of them to make sure her peers are pulled up with her.”

Sawyer said the response from her classmates has been overwhelmingly positive. “[it’s] encouraging to see somebody that is actually looking up to me because I never thought that no one looks at me in that way.”

Though Sawyer plans to major in criminal justice in hopes of becoming a defense attorney and starting a law firm, her major motivation is her mother. “I wanted to go to school because she wasn’t able to at the time,” Sawyer said. “She was only able to receive her associate’s degree but it was at a later time because she had to care of me.”

Sawyer has yet to make a decision on what college she’ll enter in the fall, but the top contenders are Spelman College, Howard University and the University of Georgia.

Candice Marie Benbow is theGrio’s daily lifestyle, education and health writer. She’s also the author of Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough. Find her on Twitter and Instagram @candicebenbow.

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