While many students are receiving college acceptance letters in the mail, one lucky high school senior got the good news live on TODAY.
Tyra Riedemonn, a senior at the Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem, New York, was on the TODAY Plaza Wednesday with her college counselor from the CollegeBound Initiative — a program that places college guidance experts in public schools to work one-on-one with students as early as the sixth grade — when NBC's Al Roker approached them.
"Tyra has applied to about 23 colleges this year," Jessica Sabia, Riedemonn's college counselor, told Roker. Then, Sabia broke the news: Riedemonn had gotten accepted to her first-choice college, Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.
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"I didn't have any idea," responded a shocked Riedemonn, holding back tears as Roker handed her a gift basket of swag from Gettysburg College.
The College Bound Initiative is a program funded by the Young Women's Leadership Network, which also supports Riedemonn's school. The schools in the Young Women's Leadership Network "provide a single-sex educational choice for predominantly low-income students who will be the first in their families to attend college," according to the network's website.
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“This was the best way to receive this news,” Riedemonn later told Gettysburg. “I feel like all of my hard work has paid off and I’m so glad to be coming to Gettysburg. I can’t wait to start!”
