A Full-Ride Scholarship to Her Dream School
Tanaja, an 18-year-old Senior at 5280 High School, was a very quiet, shy child. Because of this, she struggled speaking up and advocating for herself in the classroom, which resulted in her being held back in 1st grade. Tanaja believes the decision to hold her back only served to enhance her educational experience and ultimately contributed to her character development.
Today, her favorite subjects in school are Art and Math. She enjoys the creative freedom that accompanies Art and serves as a peer mentor in Math. According to Tanaja, the unique project-based learning model at 5280, coupled with her extraordinary work ethic, is the reason she has achieved so much academic success during her four years at the school. Even more impressive, Tanaja has been able to maintain a 4.0 GPA while working as a Donations Attendant at Goodwill on the weekends.
In preparation for life beyond high school, she applied to two colleges: Dillard University in New Orleans and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem. After being accepted to both schools, Tanaja’s mind was unequivocally made up when she was selected as one of only seven students in the country to be awarded a full-ride Posse Art Scholarship to the University of North Carolina’s School of the Arts. The Posse Scholarship is a new initiative conceived in collaboration with renowned songwriter, actor, producer and director Lin-Manuel Miranda (“Hamilton,” “In the Heights”) to recruit, educate, and support the talent of diverse students who might be missed through traditional avenues. Tanaja is honored to have been selected for this rare opportunity and cannot wait for her first day of film school. She is eager to experience all of the fun and responsibility that comes with venturing out on your own and dreams of one day working on a professional film set.
Everyone at 5280 High School is remarkably proud of all Tanaja has achieved and cannot wait to see the impact she has on the world.
