Awarded full scholarship to study at Notre Dame
When news broke that Joriyan Lee had won a Posse scholarship, she quickly put her plans in motion.
“I was ecstatic,” said the Destrehan High School student. “I always knew I wanted to go out of state, but I didn’t know how I was going to do it. I knew I was well-rounded and could do it, but didn’t know about how I was going to do it.”
Her pursuit of a biochemistry degree has design.Lee wants to use it to help design her own cosmetic line that is environmentally friendly, “but uplifting for all women to promote confidence and beauty.” She added, the line should appeal with “something you can use that you know is for you … for whatever person you are. It will feel very personal.”
Getting the $260,000 scholarship was amazing to Lee. It laid the foundation for her to leave the state, but more importantly pushed her to the college where she is going to study biochemistry pre-med.
It’s the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, chosen from three colleges available with the full-tuition scholarship, and the university that would put her in stronger standing for her future.
Lee’s interest in biochemistry took root in Advanced Placement biology.
“Over the summers, I went to numerous seminars and lab opportunities to experience it,” she said of her career path. “The topics struck me as interesting.”
Although Lee initially saw herself at Tulane University, Notre Dame quickly appeared on her radar as she learned more about the university’s offerings in education and experience.
It was also one of the three “Posse schools,” which also included Tulane University and Grinnell College, a private liberal arts college in Grinnell, Iowa.
But after she attended a spring visit weekend on a paid trip to Notre Dame to experience the campus and meet students, Lee knew this was where she wanted to attend college.
“It was snowing there, but I saw how emotional these people were about Notre Dame,” she said.
The message to her was “this is more than college” and one she decided was well worth her time and effort.
All this from being chosen for the Posse scholarship, which is awarded by the Posse Foundation, a nonprofit organization that identifies, recruits and trains student leaders from public high schools to form multicultural teams called “Posses” of 10 to 12 Posse Scholars.
“They look for team players, not necessarily just the one very intelligent on paper,” Lee said.
But first, as a new DHS graduate, she plans to attend Posse pre-collegiate this summer and then, if allowed by Posse, will attend a research program at Notre Dame in June.
“I don’t know how I did it or doing it, but my drive and devotion to education will get me through,” she said of her future plans. “Sometimes I feel I’m not getting into it, but then I look back and ask ‘How did I do it?’ Posse saw something in me out of 500 students then I have to be some kind of good.”
Be the first to comment