A North Carolina teen was accepted into 17 colleges and earned more than $500,000 in scholarship money after overcoming the loss of her mother.
“I’m super excited,” Saniya Lyles told WFMY News. “I’m a tiny bit nervous, now that I guess I’m preparing for college. That my experience at high school is wrapping up.”
The young girl graduates from Middle College at Bennett on Wednesday and plans to attend Fayetteville State University in the fall.
“I plan on doing crime scene investigation, you know after I get my degree, and I do have aspirations of eventually joining the military as well,” Lyles said.
Although she’s happy to be reaching one of her milestones, the moment is bittersweet for the teen who recently lost her mother.
Lyles lost her mom to a heart attack less than a year ago.
“So, it was just one of those things, you know,” she said. “I was happy, but still in the back of my mind, I’m like wow, I wish she could be here to see me do this and see me doing good.”
Despite the tragedy she’s faced, Lyles maintained an outstanding scholastic career with a 4.5 GPA meanwhile completing her fifth college-credit course.
“If anything, you know I just use it as encouragement,” Lyles said. “Everything I did before, I told myself I must do 10-times more, you know to make her proud.”
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Lyles hopes her story will inspire others to persevere and stay strong when times are tough.
“My goal in life is just to make an impact, and even after I pass, you know,” Lyles said. “I just want to leave the world better than when I came in.”
Lyles and her peers will graduate Wednesday at the Coliseum Fieldhouse in Greensboro.
