FRANKLIN, Va. — A high school senior in Franklin is rolling in college admissions and scholarship funds as he prepares to graduate.
Samuel Lyons, a senior at Franklin High School, was offered more than $1.6 million in scholarship money and was admitted to 40 colleges! And that's just as of May 7. The 18-year-old could get more college acceptances and money, according to one guidance counselor.
“Sam Lyons has been accepted into 40 colleges with a total amount of scholarships awarded of $1.6 million. He is the first student since I have been at FHS to have been accepted into this many colleges and earned this huge amount of scholarship money by himself,” Guidance Counselor Ale Massenburg remarked.
“We started in August 2020 doing his college applications and he has diligently been working at home applying to colleges while virtual. I do not believe this is all of his scholarship money or acceptance letters. We have completed several other scholarships from different organizations that we are waiting on. I believe he will get those also,” she continued.
A few of the colleges Lyons was admitted to are the University of Richmond, George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Ferrum College. However, he's set his sights on Virginia Commonwealth University where he received the VCU Engineering Progressive Award for $30,000.
“It was very time-consuming. I had to manage my time while applying to so many schools and doing virtual learning," Lyons said. “I didn’t really know what to expect since it was my first time applying to colleges. I didn't expect to get offered so much in scholarship money."
Lyons plans on pursuing a career in Computer Engineering and plans to return to Franklin to serve as a mentor for kids. He will graduate in June.
“I want to thank Ms. Massenburg and all of the teachers that taught me; each one contributed to my success,” Lyons said.