BOSTON (WHDH) - Two local high school students were surprised with full, four-year college scholarships Monday.
Seniors Rosedina Blanc and Ann Merullo were awarded the scholarships through the Scholar Athletes program.
“When I walked in and saw the cameras, I was like, ‘Oh my god,'” Blanc said.
Merullo was equally surprised.
“I didn’t know at all I was going to get the scholarship, so it felt really good when I walked in,” she said.
Blanc, a Madison Park student, will be going to Curry College.
“You can do whatever you put your mind to,” she said. “For me, I’ve always focused on school.”
Merullo, who goes to Boston Latin Academy, is headed to Regis College.
“Now I can pay for a post-graduate education and get my master’s degree (and) be something that I would have never dreamed of,” she said.
They both know how important it is.
“I did not think I was going to afford college, so this is amazing and probably the biggest thing to ever happen to me,” Merullo said.
“My mom’s occupation is a housekeeper, my dad is a janitor, so seeing them clean floors and fix beds, it really touched my heart to become somebody,” Blanc said.
Friends and family of the two students were also blown away.
“She has worked so hard for what she has achieved,” said Ann’s father, Victor. “She’s the best kid anybody could ask for.”
“I was just like oh my because I know she’s been through everything and she tried her hardest, and I’m just so proud of her right now,” said Blanc’s friend, Lause-Norma Fevrius.
After they graduate, Blanc and Merullo will be studying nursing in college.
(Copyright (c) 2022 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)