Many students often aspire to make it big at an Ivy League university. For one Gaffney High School senior, that dream has now become a reality. Zyria Rodgers received her acceptance to Yale University along with a Questbridge all-expenses-paid scholarship to the school. Questbridge is a nonprofit organization based in California that strives to provide talented students with exceptional college opportunities otherwise unattainable for the student.

While at Gaffney High, Zyria was active in Beta Club and Astra Club; she participated in Junior Leadership Cherokee and was a captain on the color guard team. Rodgers was also a member of the Spanish Club and tutored other students.

After applying to the Questbridge program earlier in the year, Rodgers was hopeful that she would make it into an Ivy League. She says she was “shocked” when she first received her acceptance letter from Yale.

“I’m nervous because I know that there’ll be kids there who are perfect in everything and outshine me by a long shot and I don’t want their being ahead scare me out of success. Then again, I know that I’ll work five times as hard to get to where I need to be. Plus, there will be kids there going through the same things; maybe we can help each other out.”

She will travel to the school later in April to attend their orientation; Yale is covering all the expenses for said trip.

“My mom (my #1 fan) is ecstatic! She even bought balloons with my face on them for my grad party. My dad is apprehensive about how far away Yale is, but he supports me nonetheless.” As with her friends’ thoughts, Rodgers said, “My friends are more excited than I am. They’ve been so supportive of me, and its made the whole experience all the more sentimental.”

She recently visited the Yale campus in New Haven, Connecticut. “I liked how well-preserved the campus was, even the residential halls are museums. The rainy weather does not take away from the beauty of the campus, which is infused throughout the entire city, by the way. The buildings are gothic styled, and they have bells and towers on top of certain building. The bells play entire songs.”

Gaffney High School Indian Post would like to congratulate Zyria, our Editor-in-Chief, on her achievement and wish her the best at Yale.