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Grays Ferry’s Tierra Holmes will attend Howard University next month.
The School Reform Commission awarded the teen with the Gates Millennium Scholarship, a nine-year full college scholarship that will cover the costs of tuition, textbooks and housing. The graduate of Imhotep Institute Charter High School in West Oak Lane is one of 1,000 high school students nationwide to be recognized.
Holmes, who learned about the scholarship opportunity while attending a youth summit at Temple University, credits the culturally responsive African-centered curriculum at her school with helping her to win the award.
“By learning more about my heritage and the achievements my ancestors made, I was able to grow and experience culture and education in a different way,” she said in a statement. “The four years I studied at Imhotep exposed me to so many new opportunities and experiences, which will benefit me throughout life.”
The resident of the 1400 block of South Etting Street plans to put her scholarship to good use by studying sociology, political science and African studies at Howard University this fall. After obtaining her bachelor’s degree, she plans to attend law school where she will study civil law.
For those who know her best, there is no doubt that Holmes will accomplish these goals.
“Although she had a few challenges and setbacks that would have deterred many people, she stayed focused and persistent in her goals. She once told me that she saw her education as her way to a better life,” her mentor Lori Harris, Imhotep’s Pillars of Peace mediation and mentoring program director, said in a statement. “This scholarship is truly the outcome of her strong self-determination.” SPR
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