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Jackson-Reed seniors Clara Durante and Ema Blanco receive their SJT scholarship offers from GW President Ellen M. Granberg Thursday morning in the school's College & Career Center. (William Atkins/GW Today)
Jackson-Reed High School seniors Clara Durante and Ema Blanco are used to working in tandem. This past fall, the two led their school’s soccer team to a District of Columbia Interscholastic Association regional title. Durante led the Tigers in goals with Blanco often setting her up to find the back of the net, leading the squad in assists.
On Thursday, they thought they’d be going to an awards program for those exploits on the pitch this past season, until their families said they would have conflicts and couldn’t make it. It turned out that was because there was a far greater prize to award them within the walls of their school.
Just before the lunch hour, a school official led Durante and Blanco to the College & Career Center on Jackson-Reed’s bottom floor. Their families, principal Sah Brown, D.C. Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin and a whole contingent from the George Washington University, including President Ellen M. Granberg, were there waiting.
When they arrived, the two friends immediately cupped their hands over their mouths in near shock when they laid eyes on their family members—as well as mascot George. They had realized they were each chosen for a prestigious Stephen Joel Trachtenberg Scholarship, which covers tuition, room, board, books and fees throughout four years at GW for incoming first-year students from D.C.
Durante and Blanco, who have set each other up for success so many times before whether on the field or in the classroom, will link up once again at GW.
“She’s one of my best friends, and this is such an amazing thing to share with someone,” said Durante, who plans to study psychological and brain sciences. “I’m so glad we can go through our next chapters together.”
“This is just amazing,” added Blanco, who intends to pursue a degree in international affairs. “I wouldn’t have wanted to share this with anyone else.”
They were two of 10 high school students throughout the District Thursday who learned the debt-free fate of their college careers.
Launched in 1989 by then-GW President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg under the name 21st Century Scholars, the program has enrolled more than 200 high school students from the city. GW selects these students based on high school academic performance, strength of curriculum, recommendations, leadership qualities, community service, extracurricular activities and achievements.
The reveal day each spring, where members of the GW admissions and leadership teams travel to the various high schools to surprise the recipients with their SJT scholarship offers, is an annual highlight at the university.
“Every day in the admissions office, we make hard decisions,” Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Ben Toll said during the Jackson-Reed ceremony. “We have about 27,000 applications. This is a very special application process with us, and it’s super vulnerable. You’re doing this application, you’re coming to campus, you’re going through an interview process. Being on the other side of that process, surrounded by people who were part of your interview, supported by your family, and supported by your school, is truly a special moment. It’s an honor for us to be here and celebrate this milestone with you.”
The recipients not only see their hard work realized but also come to the happy terms that they have the financial burden of a college education lifted for them and their families.
McKinley Technical High School senior McKenzie Jackson, for instance, was in her first-period physics class when Granberg and the rest of the traveling GW party paused the lesson to let her know she had been selected as an SJT scholar. Jackson, whose family also showed up to the surprise, shed happy tears as she came to terms with the gravity of the moment.
“I’m really excited,” Jackson said. “Today is just a happy day.”
SJT scholars are deeply rooted in their own communities within D.C, and being able to chase their dreams in their hometown at GW is a huge highlight to recipients.
“I have plans of opening up my own healthcare institute here in Washington, D.C., which is what I put in my application,” said Jackson, who intends to pursue public health. “I want to be the change I want to see.
“Also, staying home keeps me closest to my family the next four years. I just can’t wait to see what’s in store.”
While the scholarship has the student’s name on it, it’s an equally big moment for families, who generally find out the news a few days before the recipient. It has to be one of the hardest secrets to keep.
Stephan Oliver, the father of Washington Latin Public Charter School senior Brooke Oliver, was in his car stuck in traffic when he received the phone call from GW last Friday afternoon. It was the happiest rush hour he’d ever spend as he learned Brooke would be surprised with an SJT Scholarship six days later.
“I was just like ‘I can’t believe this,’” Oliver said. “It’s an awesome feeling—probably the best I’ve had since she was born.” Brooke, also a College Bound Scholar, will be pursuing international business at GW.
For one family on Thursday, the reveal was a true full circle moment. Double alumna Morvarid Yousefi, B.A. ’02, M.D. ’07, officially welcomed her daughter, Sofia Hashemi, to the GW community during her ceremony at Washington International School.
“The generosity and the ability to have all of her tuition be covered all means so much, and it just feels so good to have your child go somewhere where you feel like she’s being handed into a family,” Yousefi said. “I just love GW and all the opportunities it gave us as a family.”
Hashemi plans to major in political science with a public policy focus. She was overjoyed to receive the scholarship offer and is thrilled to put her stamp on the family’s school.
“Every time we walk past GW’s campus, my mom says ‘oh, I remember this building or that building,’” Hashemi said. “Now I’ll get to create my own stories.
“I’m still a little speechless.”
All GW students aim to make their mark on the world, and these 10 individuals can now do so without the added financial stress. Nick Kempf, for instance, has an interest in international affairs because he is passionate about making a positive impact and hopes to become part of a decision-making body that works empathetically. He feels GW is the place for him to become the future policy leader he envisions and that the university will also shape him into a person he is proud of.
“[International affairs] is about helping people beyond just my own community,” said Kempf, who learned of his SJT scholarship along with Oliver during their public, surprise reveal at Washington Charter Latin. “It’s about recognizing that we’re all connected and that everyone has needs—we’re in this together.”
For the next four years, that’s exactly what these SJT scholarship recipients will be as they all work toward their shared goal of bettering society.
Francis Cardozo Education Campus’ Endy Sosa, District of Columbia International School’s Roland Foster, Benjamin Banneker High School’s Princewill Anyanwu and Duke Ellington School of the Arts’ Ana Milisits were also offered SJT scholarships on Thursday.
Below is a gallery from SJT Day by GW Today photographer William Atkins:
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