LYNN — English High School senior Tallia Dudley has been awarded two major national scholarships and is one of only 621 students up for a Presidential Scholars award, selected from nearly 5,600 nominees nationwide.
“I’m shocked, and pretty stoked,” Dudley said, then laughed. “I’m humbled and thankful and I feel blessed.”
The U.S. Department of Education will announce the recipients in May.
Tallia, who is Tufts University-bound, has already been awarded a Questbridge Scholarship and a Gates Scholarship. Both offer full rides for her undergraduate education.
For the past three summers, Tallia has been a full-time intern in the lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, assisting in a program run by Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. At Tufts, she will pursue a medical career, focusing on research and biomedical engineering, concentrating on blood disorders and cancers.
She lives with her mom, Lisa Dudley, and older brother, Noah Lima, who has a condition on the autism spectrum. “My dad has been out of the picture for, well forever,” she said. Her mom is a paraprofessional in the kindergarten classroom at Sisson Elementary, but with schools closed, money is tight.
“We have struggled financially,” said Tallia. “When I was young, we had to go on food stamps. I remember my mom driving home with an empty tank of gas, with the red light on.
“My mom had no college education. But she’s as smart as anyone I know. She just didn’t have the opportunities I have. My mom shaped me and insisted I get a good education. ‘You need to go to college. Us not having money, you’ll have to do well in school,’ she’d tell me. ‘Make sure you excel.’ I feel if I push myself, I’d make my mother proud. Maybe someday I can buy her a house. Her struggles pushed me.”
“Yes, I’m extremely proud of Tallia,” said her mom. “She’s a humble girl. She doesn’t talk about her successes unless someone else brings it up.”
“When she was 2 years old and her brother was in kindergarten, she wanted to do her own homework. I’d buy workbooks at Walmart and the three of us would do homework together.”
Tallia has attended Lynn Public Schools since kindergarten: Aborn, Pickering and advanced classes at English High. She is the Class of 2020’s salutatorian at English, ranking “only about one one-hundredth of a point behind” Adnan Jalal in the valedictorian race. Jalal is also headed to Tufts University this fall.
She speaks glowingly about her teachers, as does her mom.
“The teachers in the Lynn Public Schools system are sensational,” said Lisa Dudley. “They have a played a big role in her education. They go beyond to give the kids everything they need to learn and succeed.”
“I love math and science best. I just got (those subjects) from the start.”
Tallia said she is “bummed” that she will miss out on a graduation ceremony and the prom this year. “It would have been my first prom. Me and my friends did go out to look at prom dresses. As salutatorian I would have given a speech at graduation. And I’d been thinking about how to decorate my graduation cap. A postponed graduation would be nice. And we don’t get to sign our yearbooks. All those senior events and little trips, we’re missing out on those. I’d just gotten a job at Foot Locker for the summer, too. It’s sad, but I fully understand the science behind how important it is for us to stay home and not spread the virus.”
After learning she had received the Questbridge Scholarship, Tallia said she informed the Gates administrators and offered to withdraw her application so another student in need could receive the gift. She was advised not to, that the networking opportunities were as valuable as the financial package. As one of 300 scholars chosen from a pool of more than 36,500 applicants, Tallia will have access to a range of support services, including mentoring, leadership development, wellness, career guidance, internship and job opportunities. In June, Tallia is invited to attend The Gates Scholarship Summer Institute in Los Angeles.
The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964 by the president to recognize some of America’s most distinguished graduating seniors for their accomplishments in academic success, leadership, and service to school and community. All scholars are invited to Washington, D.C., in June for the National Recognition Program, featuring various events and enrichment activities and culminating in the presentation of a Presidential Scholar Medallion during a White House-sponsored ceremony.
