This is so awesome!!!!

© Chantelle Gary Normandie Cormier, 18, graduated from Early College Academy and South Louisiana Community College. She has been accepted to more than 100 colleges and awarded millions in scholarships. She’s decided to attend Xavier University in New Orleans this fall in her path to become a doctor.

LAFAYETTE, La. – Most parents and guidance counselors advise high school seniors to apply to more than one college — to have at least one “backup school.”

Entrepreneurship and hard work are her family’s traits. They set goals and write them on white boards they keep around the house.

“Then we help each other to accomplish them,” Gary said.

Her mom home-schools about 12 kids in addition to her son, Payton. They’re always working, learning and volunteering, putting their business profits back into the community, Gary said.

And the family balances the workload of school and home businesses with a chronic illness. Since she was a little girl, Cormier’s immune system has not been able to fight sickness, which has resulted in asthma and chronic skin issues.

She has been hospitalized many times, at least twice this year, her mom said, and spent much of Friday having blood work done to check her white blood cells. But she’ll smile, as she describes it, true to her mission of inspiring others.

“Since I was a child, I was always in and out of the hospital,” Cormier said. “When I was young, it affected my self-esteem. But now I can use it to inspire others.”

She had many options for this fall, but Cormier had to choose one. She landed on Xavier University of Louisiana, a private historically black university in New Orleans that offered her a full ride — as did 16 other schools.

“It was an easy decision,” Cormier said, but not because of the money. Xavier is well-known for its “pipeline” of African-American graduates to medical school and those students’ success rates.

Because she wants to be a doctor, it made perfect sense.

“Xavier’s goals align with mine,” she added.

Her time in the hospital, both as a patient and a volunteer, led her to choose that path. She has been mentored by medical and other STEM professionals.

“She wants to continue to inspire children,” Gary said.

“To want more for themselves and for their education,” Cormier said to finish her mom’s sentence.

Source: Louisiana teen accepted into 139 colleges, awarded $8.7 million in scholarships