Eight Atlanta students were among 27 nationwide recipients of the Sallie Mae’s Bridging the Dream Scholarship for high school seniors. Of the eight Atlanta winners, two students decided to attend local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Dominic Lee chose Clark Atlanta University and Alexander Young chose Morehouse College. Other winners chose to attend North Carolina A&T, Howard University, Jackson State, Savannah State, Fort Valley State, and Tuskegee University.
In Georgia, students owe an average of $22,310 in student loans, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. With the rising cost of higher education, taking advantage of scholarships is more important than ever.
For the third consecutive year, Sallie Mae and Thurgood Marshall College Fund have provided scholarships to deserving students of up to $10,000 each to expand opportunities and help access higher education.
The students were selected from over 1,100 applicants based on their academic performance and moral character inside and outside the classroom.
Meet Dominic Lee (Clark Atlanta University)
Dominic Lee is a business administration major with a concentration in international business and says winning the scholarship gives him a bit of relief.
“I’m glad and thankful for Sallie Mae and the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund. I will be able to relax and sit back a little because of my busy schedule, so it’s helped me out a lot,” he said.
Lee also said he chose Clark Atlanta because it was close to home and because he has a single mother, he wouldn’t want to be too far away from her.
“Clark Atlanta has opportunity here and one thing I love about the business department is that they’re really hands-on and I’ve even tried starting my own business, and they’ve been helping me along the way to achieve my goals,” he said.
As for a career, Lee said he wants to be a lawyer and go into civil activism. He is currently on Clark Atlanta’s baseball team.
Due to his busy schedule and playing baseball at CAU, Lee said he doesn’t have much time to think about any clubs but is a part of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“I choose international business because it all ties in together and I want to be able to not just help people here in the States, but I want to be able to reach and help people in other countries because we’re not the only ones in the world,” he said.
Being selected from over 1,100 applicants and being two out of eight people in Atlanta to win the scholarship, Lee said the opportunity means a lot to him.
“The scholarship world is really rigorous. I can apply to 15 and only get two or nine at that. So, being able to have this opportunity out of 1,100 people, that’s amazing and it goes to show how hard I’ve worked. I’m glad someone else sees how hard I’ve been working,” he said.
The importance of attending an HBCU, Lee said, pertains to himself.
“I’m not just learning business, but I’m learning how to do business as a Black man at an HBCU, and a predominantly White Institution (PWI) won’t give me that type of education that I can get at an HBCU,” he said. “Specifically with Clark Atlanta University, my first-year seminar teacher, Dr. Kimbrough has taught me so much. It has put me so far past anything I could have learned anywhere else and it’s connecting me with people who I never be able to do that on my own.”
As a freshman in college, Lee said he wants to make a name for himself while at CAU and be able to use the resources he’s been given.
“For $40,000 in tuition, if you’re not using all the resources given to you, you’re not using your money wisely,” he said.
Lee also said he doesn’t have any fears starting the college journey and he’s more excited about what the future will bring.
Transitioning from high school to college can be quite daunting. The transition from high school to college was hard and is still having a hard time adjusting, Lee said.
“I’m still having a hard time transitioning because my schedule is so rigorous,” he said. “I wake up, my days start at 6 a.m. and I go to our first practice, go to class, and then after class is done, I have to go back to training again and in between that, I study. So, it’s been a hard transition because I went from someone who used to be in the community all the time to trying to worry about myself all the time.”
Lee said his biggest advice would be to find a good friend group.
“They don’t usually talk about this too much in high school when it comes to moving to college and moving away from your home friends, but once you move away from the people you’ve known for years and have to meet new people, the people who you hang around and surround yourself with make you who you are,” he said. “I’ve definitely been able to surround myself with great people on the baseball team and the people in my classes who are just as ambitious as I am.”
Meet Alexander Young (Morehouse College)
Alexander Young said he wants to major in cyber security, but due to Morehouse not offering the specific major, he is majoring in computer science.
Young said he feels great after being a winner of the Bridging the Dream scholarship.
“I think I had applied to tons of scholarships, and I got several,” he said. “However, getting this scholarship meant a lot, especially with it being geared towards HBCUs and the HBCU experience was like a dream come true and it helped me pay for my tuition at Morehouse, and I am appreciative of that.”
Young said in life, he wants to own his own cyber company and help people, specifically older people who may be more susceptible to malware issues, ransomware, and preventing them from getting scammed.
“Kids and older adults are more vulnerable to scams,” he said.
Young said the opportunity of being selected from over 1,100 applicants and being one of eight in Georgia to win means a lot
“It shows a lot of my work and my parents’ work has paid off. My parents pushed me and made sure I didn’t give up in school,” he said.
Young said he chose Morehouse College because it felt like a “brotherhood”.
“Originally, I wanted to go to Georgia Tech, however, my dad told me I would experience the world soon, so why shouldn’t I just go to Morehouse and have my experience with my community,” he said.
The importance of attending an HBCU, Young said, is seeing people who look like you striving to be successful.
“It gives you more inspiration to be around people like you and I don’t think us as Black people see that a lot outside of an HBCU,” he said. “Going to an HBCU can help you become successful and show that not everything in our community is reality TV and the stereotypical view, but there are Black doctors, lawyers, and actors who are millionaires and making it in life.”
Additionally, Young said he is in a business club and in the Student Government Association (SGA).
His dreams, he said, are to graduate and become successful in life.
The transition from high school to college, Young said, was scary at first, but by September, he had gotten used to being a student.
As for advice, Young said most coming to college are scared a little bit because it’s something new and unfamiliar.
“You’re grown now to a certain extent and on your own, and in some cases, you don’t have your parents there with you, so I would tell other students it’s going to be okay and to take it day-by-day. Go with the flow and everything will work out,” he said.
Lee and Young have incredible talent and are looking to use the scholarship to further their education opportunities and achieve new heights. Both students hope to carry on the legacy of HBCUs and continue to showcase a pathway for the Black community to achieve success through education.
For more information on the scholarship, visit https://www.salliemae.com.
