Miami high school senior accepted into 30 colleges, offered $1 million in scholarships
Shirley Campos (courtesy: WSVN)
MIAMI, Fla. - A graduate in South Florida has a lot of options once her senior year is over: 30 to be exact.
Shirley Campos, from Miami Jackson Senior High School, was accepted into 30 colleges and was offered $1,002,528 worth of scholarship money, WSVN reports. However, she chose to stay local, and will be attending Florida International University.
“I chose FIU because the program there they accepted me to I feel like it’s diverse, and it’s a place where I will fit in and feel at home,” Campos explained to WSVN.
Her goal is to pursue a career in nursing, with the pandemic further fueling her motivation. However, her decision originated from the limited healthcare system in Nicaragua, her parent's native country.
“My family members have passed away due to poor health facilities and I want to increase and better the health facilities, and help people to get better even though in these situations they’re putting their lives at risk, but they’re saving lives and making a difference,” she said.
During her time at Miami Jackson, Campos was captain of the majorette squad, a Silver Knights award nominee and student class president. She not only excelled in school, but she helped her community too. She founded a non-profit organization, called Chances for Change, which serves the youth in low socioeconomic communities.
“I’m a co-founder with my friend Stephanie Jean Charles. We wanted to help low-income communities have a chance for a change, so that’s where the name originated from, Chances for a Change, so people can have a chance to better their lives and have a change in their lives,” she said.
On top of that, Campos also collected hundreds of books to donate to children in her community. She's also the first person in her family to head to college. Her relatives say they are very proud of her and her accomplishments -- so far.
Campos had the following words of advice for future graduates: “Hard work and dedication, as well as enjoying yourself, because if you’re not passionate about something, you’re not going to work as hard or be motivated as much to complete the task."