17-Year-Old Girl Wins $9.7 Million in Scholarships to 72 US Universities

Seventeen-year-old Tatyana Alves has been awarded $9.7 million in scholarships to 72 universities across the United States.

Seventeen-year-old Tatyana Alves has been awarded $9.7 million in scholarships to 72 universities across the United States. Tatyana, a graduate of Marygrove High School in Detroit, was among the first 95 seniors to graduate from the school.

In addition to her academic achievements, Tatyana was voted “Most Positive” by her classmates for her uplifting attitude. She begins each day with “great morning” greetings and offers “beautiful day” wishes throughout the day, responding with “amazing” whenever asked how she is doing. “I just want other people to thrive. Being positive helped me find my purpose, and I think I’ve made an influence on a lot of people,” she said.

In 2019, Tatyana and 119 other students enrolled at the new Marygrove High School, which aims to develop critical thinkers and community-minded citizens. Her focus on social justice and engineering contributed to her success and numerous scholarship offers.

“Our school isn’t as well known, given that it is new. I wanted to be challenged and I feel that an application entrance-examination school does that. I feel that application high schools are filled with a lot of opportunities,” Tatyana said.

Tatyana credits her positive outlook to her mother, Acquanetta Windham, who inspired her to achieve her goals. Her mother’s promise that she could get a job if she earned a 4.0 GPA for a semester motivated Tatyana to improve her GPA from 2.7 to 3.3, eventually achieving a perfect 4.0. As a reward, she got a job as a sales associate, boosting her confidence and independence.

Determined to be fully independent, Tatyana also earned her driver’s license and received a vehicle to drive to school and work. “I was in the 11th grade and I was 15-turning-16, and I said this is the time when I need to start turning into a woman,” she said.

Tatyana expressed gratitude to her teachers, friends, and classmates for their support. Out of all her scholarship offers and college acceptances, she has chosen to study Business Administration at Eastern Michigan University.

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SOURCES: ALLSCHOOL, SCHOLARSHIP REGION