MIAMI (WSVN) - A Miami senior had a $30,000 scholarship delivered to her front door by the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club in recognition of more than her outstanding grades.
Zamiah Wadley’s face was full of surprise and joy, as she accepted the scholarship on her graduation day on Tuesday.
The Booker T. Washington senior was one of eight finalists recognized by the club for her academic achievement and community involvement.
“All these kids have 4.2 to 4.6 GPAs that they’re graduating with, but they don’t have the finances to afford college, and we want to get that issue out of the way, take that blockade down,” Rick Freedman, the chair of the club’s scholarship committee, said.
The club has awarded nearly $300,000 in scholarships over the past nine years, and Wadley is the most recent recipient.
“This actually means I can actually go to where I was going to go because depending on whether or not if I won or not would have determined if I would actually get the full college experience or stay here, so I’m thankful for it,” Wadley said.
The club said her good grades and dedication to others, like students with developmental disabilities and autism, won them over.
“I’m just so proud of her,” Luria Davis, Wadley’s mother, said. “She did it. I’ve never really had to push her. This is something that she’s always wanted. She did it on her own, so this is all to her. This is her moment.”
Wadley will head to Bethune-Cookman University where she will major in physical therapy.
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