Ashley Adirika, a Nigerian-American teenager who graduated from Miami Beach Senior High School this month, joined the exclusive group of students who have gained admission into all Ivy League Universities.
In an interview with CNN, Ashley admitted that it has always been a dream for her to study in an Ivy League school.
“I just decided to shoot my shot at all of them and see if it would land. And I had no idea that I would get accepted into all of them,” she says.
“On Ivy Day, I remember crying a lot and just being extremely surprised.” She also got accepted to seven other top-rated schools, including Stanford, Vanderbilt and Emory. With plans to major in government, Ashley chose Harvard.
The teenager opened up about her dilemma between Harvard and Yale, however, her choice on Harvard was very much on the basis of her career aspirations. She has a noble goal – to fix issues in communities with the knowledge of government systems and policies.
“Before the college application process, Yale was actually my top choice. But when I did further research for what I want to do specifically, which is explorations in policy and social policy and things of that nature, Harvard just had a better program,” she says.
She added:
“I am really passionate about policy and using policy to empower communities. And so in the short term, for me, that looks like becoming a lawyer,” she says. “But in the long term, I want to use that as a platform to do work in policy.”
While in high school, Ashley already started Our Story Our Worth, an organization that provides young women of colour with mentorship, confidence-building and sisterhood. She mentioned how being part of a debate team played a part in teaching her how to articulate herself when talking to members of the organization.