‘Surreal’ surprise: Miami high schoolers blindsided by full rides to college

MIAMI — Two students at Booker T. Washington High School in Miami’s Overtown neighborhood were surprised on Tuesday with full four-year college scholarships.

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The announcement was made at their annual senior class awards ceremony, a moment both say they will never forget.

“I don’t know, it just all feels surreal,” said scholarship winner Yaz’Nique Jean-Francois.

The scholarships are worth up to $30,000 apiece.

Both winners were completely blindsided by the good news.

“When I heard Yaz’Nique’s name, I was just too excited because my friend won,” said scholarship winner Patricia Smith. “And then I heard my name.”

The pair of students were selected from a group of 14 applicants and were selected by the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club.

This year, instead of handing out one scholarship, the club decided to award two, thanks to some help from Jimmy Tate, whose father founded the Florida Prepaid College Program.

“Our committee met on Zoom last week, and we went back and forth and back and forth and back and forth,” said Rick Freedman with the Biscayne Bay Kiwanis Club. “And then I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to pick up the phone, I’m going to call Stanley Tate’s son, Jimmy Tate, and say Jimmy, I got a great idea. Would you be willing to write a check for a second scholarship?’”

For both students, the road to this moment wasn’t easy.

Jean-Francois pushed forward after a death in her family cause her and her loved ones much anguish.

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“My freshman year, I lost my grandmother,” she said. “So moving forward, I lost my motivation, but I gained it back because I was like I have to do it for her.”

Smith also opened up about her family struggles.

“I lost my grandmother and my uncle just six months apart, and it kind of like took a toll on me,” she said.

Jean-Francois later video-called with her mother, the single parent she said sacrificed so much to help her succeed.

“She’s been working overtime like all this whole year so this means a lot,” she said. “Well, you don’t have to work overtime no more.”

Each student is also graduating with a GPA above 4.0 and will become the first in their family to attend college.

Both say they plan to attend Florida International University, where Smith will major in criminology while Jean-Francois wants to study clinical psychology, so they can continue to help others.

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