A Florida teen was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools
A Florida teen was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools — and seven other universities:
Ashley Adirika, a Nigerian American teen who was accepted into all eight Ivy League schools, has this to say about her decision to apply to all of the schools: “I just decided to shoot my shot at all of them and see if it would land.”
Ashley Adirika, a teenager from Florida, has had the ambition to one day attend an Ivy League school since she was very young. Therefore, she did not apply to just one of them in the late fall; rather, she applied to all eight of them.
Ashley opened eight tabs on her computer on Ivy Day, the fateful spring day when the prestigious schools all announce their first-year admission decisions. One tab was dedicated to each school’s applicant portal. One acceptance letter popped up. Then there was another. And still another
Up until the point where she received acceptances from all of them, she attended Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.
The teenager, whose mother had traveled all the way from Nigeria to the United States 30 years prior, described the experience as “surreal.” The day Ashley received her acceptance letters, she was surrounded by members of her family, including her four siblings, all of whom shared her excitement and squealed with joy along with her.
“I just made the decision to fire my shot at each of them to see if any of them would hit it. And I certainly did not anticipate being accepted into each and every one of them “she says. “I remember crying a lot and just being extremely surprised on Ivy Day,” she said. “Ivy Day.”
As of this month, Ashley, who received her diploma from Miami Beach Senior High School, is now a member of a select group: Since the year 2018, each school in the Ivy League has accepted fewer than 12 percent of the students who applied to attend. This year, Yale accepted 4.5 percent of applicants, Columbia took 3.7 percent, and Harvard accepted just 3.2 percent, which is the lowest number in the institution’s entire existence.
Additionally, Ashley was accepted to seven other prestigious universities, including Stanford, Vanderbilt, and Emory, among others. The university of her choice is Harvard, and she intends to major in government there starting in the fall.
On the argumentation squad, she has been a driving force.
Ashley claims that she was torn between attending Harvard or Yale, but in the end, the decision was based on what was best for her future career. Her objective is to gain an understanding of how the government operates and how different policies can contribute to the reduction of economic disparities in different communities.
“Prior to beginning the application process for colleges, Yale was actually my first choice. But when I did further research for what I specifically want to do, which is explorations in policy and social policy and other things of this nature, Harvard just had a better program, so I decided to apply there “she says.
Ashley participated in debate and held the position of president of the student council while she was in high school.
Ashley was recruited for the debate team when she was in the eighth grade by Bess Rodriguez, who was the debate coach at the nearby Carol City Middle School. Rodriguez says that the adolescent has always been curious about how the world works.
Rodriguez claims that because she was such an immediate force on the team, the other students were terrified of having a debate with her.
“She possessed a high IQ and was very articulate. Some of the issues up for discussion were quite complex, such as whether or not the United States ought to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia. She did extensive research, and she was always exceptionally well prepared “According to Rodriguez, who is also an English instructor at the middle school,
“When Ashley was on the agenda, the other students would groan and exclaim, “Oh no!” When college debaters and attorneys from the community would approach me, they would say things like, “Wow, we can’t believe she’s in eighth grade.” She has the makings of a good lawyer.”
Ashley continued participating in debate throughout her high school career, and she has future aspirations to join the debate team at Harvard. Yes, she does intend to pursue a legal education after finishing her undergraduate degree at some point in the future.
She claims that she does not yet know what she will do with her law degree and that the future is uncertain.
“My deepest interests lie in public policy and in finding ways to use policy to strengthen local communities. Because of this, I believe that, in the near future, I will pursue a career in the legal field “What can I say? “But over the course of my career, I hope to use that as a springboard to work in policy,” she said.
She established a group with the goal of assisting young women.
There is one thing that Ashley is reasonably confident about, and that is the fact that she intends to continue having an influence beyond the boundaries of her school.
She founded the organization Our Story Our Worth when she was still in high school. The mission of the organization is to provide girls and young women of color with mentorship, the opportunity to build confidence, and sisterhood. She claims that being a part of the debate team taught her how to articulate herself when talking to other members of the organization because it gave her the opportunity to do so.
Ashley Adirika is also the founder of the organization Our Story Our Worth, which aims to provide young women of color with mentorship, the opportunity to build their confidence, and a sense of sisterhood.
“When I was in elementary school, I had the opportunity to participate in a mentorship program specifically designed for young women. When I was in college, I had women who served as my mentors, and they not only taught me valuable skills but also instilled confidence in me and provided me with an outlet where I could express myself. I will never forget the comfort that their support bestowed upon me in times of need “She posted the message on the website of the organization.
“Unfortunately, as I progressed through middle school and high school, the sense of solace that I had experienced began to diminish. There were not enough programs available for girls, particularly girls of color, and this was a problem.”
Our Narrative The girls and young women in the Miami community are currently the focus of Our Worth’s efforts, but Ashley has big plans for the organization’s future.
She attributes her strong work ethic to the women in her life, particularly to her mother, who raised five kids by herself as a single parent.
She says, “She has just instilled in me the value of education and working hard, as well as all of the strong women in my life, like my older sisters.” “She has just instilled in me the value of education and working hard,” she says. “For me, it’s about making the most of the opportunities that I have at my fingertips and really just making sure that the sacrifices that have been made for me weren’t done in vain,” she said. “For me, it’s about making sure that the sacrifices that have been made for me weren’t done in vain.”
Ashley delivered a speech at her high school graduation, which took place before the students were awarded their diplomas. She emphasized the significance of being well-prepared, arriving on time, and locating a source of light even when things seemed bleak while wearing a sash that read “Black Girl Magic.”
Ashley says that playing flag football and writing in her journal are two of her favorite things to do when she isn’t pondering innovative approaches to empowering girls in her community. She says that she also expresses her creative side through other mediums, such as writing music and painting.
She has gathered all of the acceptance letters and miniature flags that she received from the various schools she applied to and placed them in a keepsake box in preparation for her move to her new home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the month of August.
She says that in this way, she will always be able to remember that one can make their most ambitious dreams come true.
And what about all of the hoodies and baseball caps she received from the Ivy League universities she won’t be attending? Her nieces and nephews were the lucky recipients of these gifts. She says that in this way, they will have a visual reminder that it is something that they are also capable of doing.
