麻豆影视

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May has been quite the month for Amari Shepherd, 17. With a GPA of 4.86, she gave the valedictory speech at KIPP New Orleans鈥檚 Frederick A. Douglass High School鈥檚 graduation ceremony May 17. A few days before that, she had picked up an associate degree from Bard Early College. And she has racked up a potentially record-setting in scholarship offers, as well as acceptances from 162 colleges. 

As she prepares to enroll at Spelman College in Atlanta, here are five things to know about Shepherd:

How she did it: Shepherd sent her bona fides 鈥� which include the publication of a book titled 鈥淭hirteen,鈥� seats on the New Orleans mayor’s and superintendent’s youth advisory councils, and extensive community service 鈥� to every college or university she could find that waived the application fee. She also submitted her application to , an online portal that offers direct admissions to colleges whose criteria students meet. 

About those scholarships: KIPP New Orleans leaders believe Shepherd has received more scholarship offers, or nearly so, than any graduate, ever. Because of unprecedented delays caused by problems with this year鈥檚 FAFSA, her total tally is likely to keep rising as colleges and philanthropies continue processing awards. All told, so far her senior class has earned $26 million in scholarships.  

Where she鈥檚 headed: Shepherd is waitlisted at an Ivy she鈥檇 prefer not to name, but it wasn鈥檛 her first choice. She鈥檚 had her eyes on Spelman College for years 鈥� even if it wasn鈥檛 always clear how she鈥檇 get there: 鈥淢y mom always told me to play my role and everything else would fall into place, and that鈥檚 exactly what happened. (They did also give me a full ride 馃槈.)鈥� Shepherd texted in response to The 74鈥檚 questions. 鈥淪o I鈥檒l be going to my dream school for free!鈥�

After that: Shepherd plans to follow a political science degree with law school, after which the two-time winner of KIPP New Orleans’s Black Lives Matter writing contest plans to tackle some societal issues. 鈥淚 want to be on the Supreme Court because I want to be a part of change to make a more fair, just and equitable society, and what better way to do that than from inside.鈥�

Her inspiration: Shepherd was in kindergarten when her father died. More recently, she lost both of her maternal grandparents to COVID. 鈥淓ducation meant everything to them, so I didn鈥檛 really have a choice but to do well in school,鈥� she says. When her grandmother passed, Shepherd channeled her grief into making her proud. 鈥淚t made me feel like everything I do moving forward .鈥�&苍产蝉辫;

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