By: Gabriella Scerbo
For many students, school it is a constant battle, between the early morning wakeup time and the isolation of staying in one building, it’s no wonder by 3:00pm students are exhausted.
Although this battle affected many, it did not affect 17- year old Ashanti Palmer, who never missed a day of school in her life. All the way from Pre-K to 12th grade, her perfect attendance has drastically impacted her life and overall leading to being Mount Vernon City School District class valedictorian at Nellie A. Thornton High School.
The young students inspiring story shows us that hard work pays off-literally. Palmer received over $430,000 in scholarships from all eighteen colleges that she was accepted into. She graduated with a 99.08 average and plans on attending Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) this fall. You’ve guessed it, she has received a full scholarship, including dorming and a book stipend.
She plans to study biomedical engineering with a pre-medical track. In the future, hoping to receive her M.D. at any Ivy League medical school.
Academically her efforts had landed her a spot on the National Honor Society. Palmer is not just a rockstar in school, but also fills her time outside of school with different extracurriculars and a mentoring program. She is an artist as well, interested in music and poetry.
Due to COVID-19, she gave a virtual commencement speech to the Class of 2020, sharing inspirational words of wisdom.
What can’t she do?
This extraordinary young woman landed a place on Good Morning America and a small segment on abc7NY.
