An 18-year-old African-American student from Atlanta, Georgia, Daya Brown, has been accepted to more than 50 colleges and universities. She has also earned over $1.3 million in scholarship awards.
“It really wasn’t about the number of schools I applied to; it was really about making sure that I had options for my parents to really sit back and relax,” Brown told Good Morning America. “Student loans are something that I do not want. So this is kind of a gift, both to myself and to them.”
Brown, who is a senior student at Westlake High School in Atlanta, said the key to her achievement is working gradually and purposefully towards her goal.
She said she started preparing early, researching schools that had certain majors she wanted to study, such as mass communications or film, even during her sophomore year. She then worked on participating in different extracurricular activities that might also help cultivate her passions.
During her free time, Brown works as the CEO of Elom & Co. Productions, a production company she founded that supports emerging creators intending to make an impact on society through creativity.
Moreover, Daya Brown said she couldn’t have achieved her dreams without the support of her family.
“My father is a pastor and an educator, so I learned my rhetorical skills from him. My mother is creative, so I learned her visionary attributes. My grandmother makes all of my gowns, so I learned all of her artistic abilities. My brother reminds me to laugh every day,” she said. “At the end of the day, I believe my village really showed up.”
With a lot of options, Brown decided to attend Duke University, as she immediately felt welcomed and connected with other Black students in the university who had the same interests as her. She plans to study visual media studies with a minor in journalism, just like she really wanted to do from the start.
“No, it wasn’t easy. Yes, you have to stay up many nights to get the work done if you want the GPA, but at the same time, it wouldn’t feel like such a burden if it’s your passion,” she said. “I wake up every day, happy about what I do.”
