Yuma student gets accepted to several Ivy League schools
Leilani Wesley is a senior at Kofa High School and is about to be a freshman at Harvard University. She was accepted to several Ivy League universities that include Columbia University and Yale.
“I cultivated my dream to succeed from a young age. My mother was a single mother who didn’t have an education. She went from job to job struggling to provide for me and my sister. I witnessed my mother’s deep exhaustion from work and the strain from financial struggles my family went through for years. My mother always encouraged me and my sister to put effort into our schooling. I took her advice to heart. I decided that I was going to create a better future for me and my family through education: the universal door of opportunity.” said Leilani.
Leilani will be majoring in Environmental Sciences and foster her love for sustainable and renewable energy structures.
Wesley received the Gates scholarship and will not have to pay anything for tuition.
She took part in several extracurricular activities which she said were an essential part of her academic journey.
“In the National Honor Society, we strove to follow the four pillars of NHS: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. In Key Club, I spent many hours volunteering with organizations like the Crossroads Mission, Salvation Army, the Sunrise Optimist Club, and more. I found a passion for helping others and giving back to my community.” said Leilani.
“I want to thank my family, my community, and Kofa High School for this amazing journey. With them, I was able to achieve my dream of opening a door to a brighter future.”
