LYNN — Thanks to a scholarship dedicated to match low-income but high-achieving students with the nation’s top colleges and universities, two KIPP Academy seniors will be attending the colleges of their dreams.
The QuestBridge National College Match Scholarship provides a pathway to a higher education by not only matching seniors to the colleges they dream of attending, but by providing full four-year scholarships, room and board, books and supplies, and travel expenses.
Both Hermon Kaysha and Destin Fernandes qualified for the grants, and as a result will be attending MIT in Cambridge and Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif.
“These two boys worked extraordinarily hard to earn these opportunities,” said Caleb Dolan, executive director of KIPP Massachusetts. “This is a real exciting opportunity, not just for a college scholarship, but to get the support that comes with QuestBridge, which includes mentorship and networks with other scholars. We are super proud of them, and of all our seniors.”
QuestBridge received 14,926 applications for the Match Scholarship and 1,127 students nationwide received one.
Kaysha immigrated with his family to Lynn from Ethiopia two years ago. When he came to KIPP, he didn’t speak English but felt completely welcomed by the students and teachers.
He learned about QuestBridge last year from a senior and decided to apply.
“I never thought that I was going to apply to an elite college,” he said. “When I was selected as a finalist it was my biggest achievement. Last Monday I found out I was matched to MIT, which is my dream school. It’s just a dream come true. It was the best day of my life; I will never forget it.”
At KIPP, Kaysha started the Math Club and was a teaching assistant in precalculus. He intends to major in math and says he hopes to discover his own theorem one day.
Fernandes has been with KIPP since the eighth grade. He said the QuestBridge application process was rigorous and time consuming, but the end result makes it all worth it.
“When I saw I got into Stanford, I screamed,” he said. “I put it on my list just to put it on there, because I knew it would carry over to regular decisions when I didn’t get in. I had no thought that I would actually get in. I was crying and just couldn’t believe it.”
At KIPP, Fernandes is the co-president of the National Honor Society, does slam poetry with Indigo Society Poets, and is part of the Innocence Project club. He also works 30 hours per week at a movie theater and takes Composition I at North Shore Community College.
Fernandes wants to major in sociology and become a civil rights lawyer or a public defender.
Last week, Fernandes also found out that the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation chose him as one of 50 Cooke College Scholars, and one of two from Massachusetts. Scholars are chosen based on academic ability, leadership, persistence, and service to others. Recipients receive up to $40,000 annually to cover all aspects of their undergraduate education. They receive educational advising from foundation staff and connect with a network of nearly 2,700 active scholars and alumni.
“Every now and then, incredible things happen for incredible people,” KIPP principal Emily DoBell said. “This was one of those times. I cannot express how excited I am for the communities of MIT and Stanford and all that Hermon and Destin will add to those spaces.”
