Riverwood International Charter School graduate Mariah Hinton is one of 1,000 2016 Gates Millennium Scholars, selected from an applicant pool of 53,000. She will attend Florida State University to study nursing and will receive a full scholarship plus mentoring, leadership training, travel and networking opportunities. Mariah began working on the application last summer and wrote eight essays as part of the final submission. She says her strategy was to pique the interest of evaluators by fashioning her responses as "narrative stories about triumphs and challenges" in her life.

About the Author

Keep Reading

The quadrangle at Oxford College of Emory University. The university announced Wednesday it will be tuition-free for undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000. (Courtesy of Kay Hinton)

Credit: Kay Hinton

Featured

Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com