Richton Park, IL-(ENEWSPF)- In a remarkable achievement, four Southland College Prep Charter High School seniors have been awarded over $1 million in full scholarships combined through the QuestBridge National College Match Program.
Isaiah Adegoye, Nehemiah James, Danielle Mambo, and Eriyana Woolfolk, all Southland College Prep students in their final year, stand out as Match Scholarship Recipients. They secured comprehensive four-year scholarships that cover tuition, room and board, books, supplies, fees, and travel expenses—no loans required. Adegoye will attend Vanderbilt University. James and Mambo will embark on their academic journeys at the University of Chicago. Woolfolk matched with Rice University.
These four students earned selection from over 20,800 applicants. They were among the 6,683 finalists for this year’s QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship. The program’s 50 college partners matched with 2,242 finalists. This set a record for the highest number of Match Scholarship Recipients.
Began High School During the Pandemic
Dr. Blondean Y. Davis, CEO of Southland College Prep, commended the extraordinary dedication and focus demonstrated by the students. She noted that they began their high school journey during the challenges of the pandemic in 2020.
According to Robert Lane, the school’s Director of College Admissions and Alumni Relations, collectively valued at nearly $1.3 million, these scholarships mark a historic achievement for Southland. Lane highlighted the seventh consecutive year of Southland students matched with prestigious institutions through QuestBridge.
QuestBridge, a national program linking high-achieving students from underprivileged backgrounds with top colleges, provided these students with a unique opportunity. The four awardees, Isaiah Adegoye, Nehemiah James, Danielle Mambo, and Eriyana Woolfolk, each submitted as many as 100 essay responses to secure their QuestBridge awards.
About the Scholarship Recipients
Isaiah Adegoye, 18, from Richton Park, expressed relief for his family. He said the scholarship lifts the burden of his education. Nehemiah James, 17, from Matteson, plans to major in computer science. He dreams of becoming a programmer and starting his own company. Danielle Mambo, 17, also from Matteson, aims to become a dentist. She leveraged her unique identity as an American woman and child of immigrants in her QuestBridge essays. Eriyana Woolfolk, 17, from Country Club Hills, aspires to major in economics or business at Rice University. She found inspiration from her mother’s trailblazing journey as the first in their family to attend college.
These outstanding achievements underscore the remarkable success of Southland College Prep students. They show the transformative impact of programs like QuestBridge in facilitating access to higher education for high-achieving students from diverse backgrounds.
Note: OpenAI wrote the rough outline for this article or completed the initial editing of a press release sent to eNews Park Forest. Other journalists of the Local News Alliance, a nascent organization of five local online publishers, and I decided to experiment with this technology and learn its possibilities and limitations. One requirement of using the technology we agreed on is acknowledging our use of this tech in articles it helps us produce.
OpenAI rewrote the release Southland College Prep sent. In this case, we used the following prompt: “Turn this into a cleaner, better-written news story that focuses more on the four students instead of the adults.” We then edited the copy OpenAI produced.
