Vicksburg High’s valedictorian Marquasia Smith received over $500,000 in scholarships

Vicksburg High School’s 2021-2022 valedictorian Marquasia Smith graduated on Thursday night with a total amount of $512,000 in scholarship offers.

With scholarship offers from colleges all over the country, Smith made the decision to attend Mississippi State University to advance her education.

“I want a successful future so I always strived to keep my grades up and I also want to be a software engineer so academics is very important,” Smith said.

Smith found out last Thursday that she would be the valedictorian of her class after finishing with a 4.4 grade point average.

“I was surprised and extremely shocked but I feel blessed because I worked very hard for this,” Smith said. My mom battled a health condition and just seeing her go through that made me strive for excellence.”

Smith’s hard work never went unnoticed as she continued to receive scholarship offers, her biggest one from the University of Connecticut in the amount of $92,000.

“Never let people withhold you from what God has planned for you,” Smith said in advice to the younger generation.

Now that Smith has graduated, she will soon be headed off to college to start preparing for her career and happily thanks those who stuck with her along the journey.

“I want to thank my family and friends for being there and pushing me towards success during the times that I didn’t believe in myself.”