17-year-old Ashley Adirika from Miami Beach, Florida, was hoping to get into an elite university. She entered all eight, and three other reputable universities.
Less than 30 minutes ago
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“I decided to apply for everyone and hoped to get into one,” Ashley told CNN.
When the answers to her applications came, she cried with joy and surprise, and her three siblings jumped around her and shouted and screamed with joy.
Ashley’s mother immigrated from Nigeria to the United States 30 years ago, and the whole family is now very proud of the recent student.
Ashley entered the universities of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale. Her election ended at Harvard, where she will begin in the fall.
In addition to the eight so-called Ivy League universities, she entered the prestigious Stanford, Vanderbilt and Emory universities.
When she finishes her bachelor’s degree, she plans to continue studying law.
The 17-year-old says she wants to use her abilities to fight wage differences and strengthen local communities.
– I am passionate about using politics to make society better. In the long run, I want to use the background I get as a lawyer, as a platform for practicing politics, she tells CNN.
She is also a strong advocate for colored girls ‘rights, and early started the organization Our Story Our Word, which through mentoring, unity and local efforts will promote girls’ opportunities. The organization was started because she herself struggled to find support when she went to junior high school.
A campaign to help the homeless was also her idea, and they raised money for hygiene items for homeless girls and women.
–In high school, she was a feared member of the school’s debate group.
– Everyone knew who Ashley was because she’s so smart. Her test results were sky high every time, teacher Bess Rodriguez, who recruited her to the school’s debate group, told the New York Post.
She has excelled in several national debate competitions in the United States.
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