She’s also graduating with an associate’s degree!
Courtney Toran is a senior at Nansemond River High School in Suffolk, Virginia, The Hill reports. An accomplished student, Courtney has not only excelled academically, she is also an All-American cheerleader and serves as the senior class president. As she’s preparing to close out her high school chapter, Courtney has a lot to be proud of, recently getting accepted to over 20 colleges and universities and receiving more than $700,000 in scholarship offers.
“This is a very life-changing experience…It makes me feel proud of myself,” Courtney told reporters.
The teen originally set her sights on attending Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), however she kept applying to various schools. Before she knew it, she had acceptance letters to 25 colleges, including Spelman College, Old Dominion University, Salem College, and her original choice, VCU.
“I just feel like I’m very blessed with all these opportunities that I have, and it’s made it a little difficult to choose what college I’m going to,” said Toran.
However she has made her decision. Courtney is headed to Regent University in the fall where she plans to study psychology, a subject she chose as a result of the current state of affairs in society.
“Over quarantine, there were incidents going on, such as George Floyd, that really motivated me to understand why people think the way that they think,” the teen explained.
Her principal, Dr. Shawn Green, said he’s really proud of Toran, counting her as one of his standout students at the school. Courtney has taken advanced courses in addition to her already full course load so on top of her college and scholarship acceptances, she’ll also be graduating high school with an associate’s degree.
Green says students like Courtney are the reason the school’s college spotlight wall is backed up, so many of Nansemond’s students off to do great things. Every year, the senior class receives an abundance of scholarship money, Green says the total ranges between $3 million to $8 million annually. All of that’s made possible by students like Courtney. But Courtney said that she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of her friends and family, mainly her father.
“He’s told me that every time that I say that I can’t, I have to do it, and I can. We have a quote in our house that says ‘Do what you have to do , so you can do what you want to do.’ It’s a quote by Denzel Washington, and that’s been my motivation ever since,” she explained.
Congratulations Courtney! We are all so proud of you!
Cover photo: Virginia teen gets accepted to more than 20 colleges, receives over $700k in scholarship offers/Photo Courtesy of The Hill