In 2018, I was an anxious high school senior trying to figure out my next steps.

I knew I was killing it in track 🏃🏾‍♀️ (I still hold two records at my high school), excelling in my IB (International Baccalaureate) program & AP classes, and really enjoying my community service work outside of school.

BUT... I didn't know anything about college since my parents hadn't gone, so I was overwhelmed.

One thing I DID know from watching too many episodes of the @therealsuzeorman show was the student loan debt is VERY stressful and VERY hard to escape.

So, I spent my free time researching how to go to college for free. THIS was the first step on my journey to financial freedom. 💵

After learning about scholarships, I was addicted to applying. I was so driven by the opportunity to earn free money, make new friends and build my network that I would even be applying to scholarships during my track meets 😂

Before I became a seven-figure scholarship winner, I was a hopeful student who continued applying for scholarships even after getting rejected over 3️⃣0️⃣times. But, I didn't let that deter me.

🫵🏾Rejection is redirection, not failure.

Then one day, the @cokescholars @cocacola foundation emailed ME saying I won $20,000. Out of 120,000 applicants from across America, I was chosen to be a 2018 Coca Cola Scholar! 🥤

That win turned me up ALLLLLL the way 🤣

Soon I won the $1,000 Burger King Scholarship, $20,000 Broward Education Foundation Scholarship, $30,000 @jrfoundation scholarship, $10,000 Simon Youth Foundation Scholarship, and even a $2,500 scholarship from the @nfl 🏈

I recently graduated from @princeton, the #1 University in America debt-free and built a global community to make these educational opportunities more accessible to students via social media! ✨

I wrote an e-book teaching students how to craft successful scholarship essays & even update a scholarship database with over $350K in opportunities on gabriellacar