Students of success

These metro Atlanta students have answers to a question that many students and their parents have asked: What does it take to get a full academic scholarship? Through hard work and determination, these graduating seniors have earned the right to have their college educations paid for by someone else. We asked metro Atlanta school officials to put us in touch with some of them so we could share their secrets of success. Part two of this series will run Monday.

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Joshua Smith, 17

Langston Hughes High School, Fulton County

College and major: Alabama State University, secondary education and history

When did you become serious about your education: “When I realized how much opportunity there is out there waiting for me in America. We can dream bigger than our country.”

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: “My superintendent, Dr. [Robert] Avossa. He is a living testament of where hard work gets you. There is nothing like having a profession that makes a positive impact on society. I actually think he believes in me, along with the other thousands of kids in our district.”

Number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes: Five

Advice for other students: “Talk to the staff! They are there to help YOU. A school family is a family, take care of and communicate with your family!”

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Stephanie Moon, 18

Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Gwinnett County

College and major: California Institute of Technology, mechanical or electrical engineering

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: “The teachers were just so wonderful at teaching and making the subjects interesting that it was impossible not to get drawn in (or in some instances at least showing respect to the teachers by doing my work).”

When, where and how often did you study: ” Whenever I had time between all the extracurricular activities, sometimes even pulling all-nighters. For example, I went to the Emory business school building to study after interning at Emory Winship Cancer Institute and before rehearsing in Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. Also, studying in the car was prevalent.”

Number of AP courses: 12

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Andrew Patterson, 18

Roswell High School, Fulton County

College and major: U.S. Naval Academy, mechanical engineering

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: His father grew up in the “middle of nowhere” in Wichita, Kan., and had to work for everything he has today. He went to the University of Missouri, then Washington University for his master’s. He has missed only two days of work, and Andrew has adopted his father’s work ethic.

When, where and how often did you study: Starts off in his room and then moves to the kitchen and living room to stay rejuvenated. Studied four hours a night on average.

Number of AP classes: Nine; also took two semesters of Georgia Tech mathematics and eight honors classes throughout high school.

Advice to other students: “Set small goals and accomplish those first. Once those goals have been accomplished, then setting large goals will be a cinch knowing that goals have already been met.”

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Lila Siwakoti, 18

Clarkston High School, DeKalb County

College and major: Oglethorpe University, biology

Amount of scholarship offer: Unlimited. Bill Gates Millennium Scholarship pays all costs through Ph.D.

When did you first become serious about your education: In 10th grade, when he was a refugee from Nepal. He arrived with poor language skills as a freshman, but as a sophomore learned about the Millennium Scholarship. “I started writing my essay during the summer of 2012. I did not think I’d get the scholarship, but I just wanted to give it a try.”

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: Gayla Robbins, who taught accelerated chemistry and physical science. She also encouraged him to do extracurricular activities, which led him to play soccer and to do volunteer work.

Number of AP classes: Four.

How did you balance school with other activities: Kept volunteer work to weekends. Weekdays were busy and regimented: soccer practice followed by a shower and then the books. .

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Lashanah Thomas, 17

Lovejoy High School, Clayton County

College and intended major: Oglethorpe University, major undecided

Amount of scholarships: Full-ride scholarship from Gates Millennium Scholarship and a $36,000 merit scholarship from Oglethorpe

When did you first become serious about your education: “I’ve always been in the honors program since elementary school.”

Biggest inspiration: “My mom. She left a Third-World country — St. Lucia — to help me and my sister get a better life.”

Number of AP courses: Three; the rest were honors or International Baccalaureate classes.

How did you balance school with other activities: “I participate in five clubs and I’m an officer in each one. God was a big factor in my being able to accomplish all that I needed to do. This year was the hardest because I was a member of the tennis team as well, which made my schedule even harder.”

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Elijah Cantrell, 18

North Clayton High School, Clayton County

College and major: Texas A&M University, architecture

Amount of scholarship offers: More than $400,000 from two scholarships: Gates Millennium and POSSE.

When did you first become serious about your education: “Ever since I began elementary school, my mother always stressed the importance of getting good grades. She always told me that A’s were Awesome, but B’s were Bad. So I felt like I always had do my best in school so that I could be awesome in life.”

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: “My older siblings. The majority of them were honor graduates of North Clayton High School. So I felt I could not let the tradition die. Even though I didn’t go to high school with them, I still used them as my competition over these past four years, trying to achieve and be even more successful in high school than they were.”

Number of AP courses: Six.

How did you balance school with other activities: “Time management was a crucial part of my academic success. I would try my hardest to complete any homework assignment before any practice or meeting, but if couldn’t do so, then once I get home I would complete it. I usually do not like waiting to the last minute to do my work, so it always remained at the top of my priority list.”

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Ty Rufus Earl Moore, 18

Fayette County High School, Fayette County

College and intended major: United States Military Academy (West Point), physics

Amount of scholarship offer: $500,000

Biggest inspiration to do well in school: “My repositioning to Battalion Commander by junior year was the driving force. I had to set the example for my cadets and show them and others that when someone is in the right environment and they are given the chance, that they can be an ordinary person doing extraordinary things. This is true regardless of a person’s background.”

Number of AP courses: One. Jan Daniel made AP Psychology a very memorable course and I have been able to apply a lot of what I learned to my leadership style.

How did you balance school with other activities: “I kept three calendars: one on my laptop, one on my phone and one handwritten. It was quite possibly the most difficult thing I had to overcome other than catching up. Extreme time management, prioritizing and isolation had to be done to get everything where it needed to be. It was all worth it in the end.”

Advice for other students: “Just because you may not be able to do it today does not mean you will not be able to do it one day; things are easier said than done, especially when you do not put any effort into getting it done, and hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard enough.”

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Leylis Alejandra Lopez, 17