She has options!
A Philadelphia teen was recently awarded over $1 million in scholarships from 18 colleges, ABC News reports.
When it came time for Shanya Robinson-Owens to apply for colleges, she wasn’t apprehensive about admissions. Still, she was not prepared for the number of acceptance letters or the amount of scholarship money she would receive. Robinson-Owens applied to more than 20 colleges, getting accepted to 18 including Moravian College, La Salle University, Lincoln University, Temple University, and Cabrini University.
The well-deserving teen is like most students her age. She spends her time going to school as a senior at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science and stays active while keeping up her grades. The 17-year-old has a 3.2 GPA, loves chemistry, and participates in a journalism course in addition to interning for her Chinese language teacher. She has a strong work ethic that has kept her going throughout the chaos of this last year.
Shanya’s aunt, Christine Owens, said she’s proud of her niece and excited for her future.
“We are overjoyed. I knew she wouldn’t have a problem getting into colleges, but we didn’t know they would award her this much money in scholarship funds. We’ve always been extremely proud of her. My mother has helped raise Shanya since she was a baby. We’ve just been working as a team making sure Shanya keeps God first in anything she does, and she is succeeding,” Owens said.
“I didn’t know if I should cry, laugh, I didn’t know what to do.” – 17 year old Shanya’s reaction when she was awarded over $1 million dollars in scholarships to 18 of the colleges she applied to. She attends George Washington Carver High in North Philly. Her story on @6abc https://t.co/vgWoYBNnlx pic.twitter.com/yAP61AX0zK
— Christie Ileto (@Christie_Ileto) February 25, 2021
To date, Robinson-Owens has received $1,074,260 in scholarships.
Ted Domers, principal at George Washington Carver, spoke highly of Shanya and her achievement,
“In addition to being a part of a movement to bring more social action to our school, she’s involved in a number of extracurricular activities that show the breadth of her skills, from robotics to journalism,” Domers said. “It is a privilege for us to count Shanya as one of our own, and we are excited to see her create opportunities for her future.”
The scholar will graduate this June and is still figuring out which college she will attend. However, she has some advice for other students who are finishing school while in the pandemic.
“Take your time…You really have to be patient. Stay focused. If you need to have some time away, it’s OK. You can tell your teachers that because they know you’re stressed,” she said.
Congratulations Shanya! We are all so proud of you!
Photo Courtesy of Christine Owens/ABC News