SUFFOLK, Va. — Courtney Toran is a graduating senior at Nansemond River High School in Suffolk.
She is an All-American cheerleader and serves as the current Senior Class President.
Throughout her tenure in high school, she has proven that with hard work and dedication, you can achieve anything in life.
As she started to plan for the future, she originally wanted to attend Virginia Commonwealth University.
But after continuously applying to other colleges, she started to receive back-to-back acceptance letters.
The opportunities didn't just stop there. Along with her acceptance, she was offered scholarships to attend various universities.
She tells News 3, before she knew it, she had accumulated over $700,000 in scholarships.
"The seven hundred thousand has been a combination of all these colleges but outside of that I have a combination of three thousand in outsider scholarships from those that are provided by those schools or any other organization around," said Toran.
Dr. Shawn Green, principal of Nansemond River High Schools tells News 3 that Toran has always been an exceptional student.
"Courtney, she definitely stands out amongst her peers. She is a go-getter, driven, very organized. She is actually our Senior Class President, so she actually keeps me on my toes when I sometimes may forget about things," said Dr. Shaun.
Courtney has decided to attend Regent University in the fall to pursue a degree in Psychology.
She was motivated to pursue a career in this field after witnessing the aftermath effects of the death of George Floyd back in 2020.
"The George Floyd incident really triggered my mind thinking why somebody would even do this and then the following events when they tried terrorizing the white house and things of that sort, it really made my mind think why people would initially think of this as their first reaction," said Toran.
Courtney says none of her accomplishments would've been made possible without the support of her village.
Because of their support, she is motivated to pursue her goals and aspirations.
She is excited about her future and furthermore, she is proud of the woman that she is becoming.
