Seventeen year old Brenyya Connor is getting social media posts and texts from celebrities. Telling Atlanta Blackstar, “Naomi Campbell posted me and she texted me, and Waka Flocka texted me also, and told me that he’s proud of me.”
The recent spate of attention from celebrities isn’t because the teen is the newest celebrity, herself, but she’s a pretty big deal! Connor recently applied to more than 50 colleges and universities and was accepted to 52 of them – so far. Acceptance letters are still coming in for the Florida teen.
Connor, a soon-to-be first generation college student, began her journey last summer applying to colleges and universities around the country. The ambitious teen now has her choice of colleges. These include,” Alabama State University, Columbus State University, University of South Florida, University of North Florida, and I recently got into Clemson. I also got into Claflin University,” she said.
Connor also applied and was accepted into some of the prestigious HBCUs as well. “I got into FAMU, Howard, Clark Atlanta, North Carolina, Iowa State, University of Iowa, North Carolina Central University, Alabama A&M University.”
Even though she had the academic credentials to be accepted into Yale, Harvard or any one of the Ivy Leagues, Connor said she purposefully avoided applying so as not to be overwhelmed.
The youngest of three children, Connor’s admission into these universities was assisted in part by her 4.76 weighted GPA. The teen shared her college acceptance journey on Twitter and eventually got over 600,000 likes. This attention is what sparked the accolades from celebrities wishing Connor well.
Most people were happy for the college-bound teen, but there were some who were not and haters lurked everywhere – as they do, on social media behind the anonymity of a keyboard.
“People were saying that this is an’ ego move’ and that I was trying to boost my self-confidence,” Connor shared. “But I don’t think people realize, like, how much confidence do you have to have to sit there and apply to 50 schools and not know whether or not you’re going to get declined or accepted?”
According to the Atlanta Blackstar reporting, one person tweeted, “The point is, who cares.” Another tweeted, “Is that suppose to be an achievement?” The race, ages and backgrounds of these posters is unknown.
Despite the hate, Connor persists and looks forward to the challenges ahead.
She now has to decide where to go. With over 50 choices, 17 scholarships and a few full rides, the decision will be a hard one.
“Going somewhere that’s challenging but also not Ivy League-standard challenging will be more comfortable for me,” Connor said will be her ideal college experience.
“I’ll still have that challenge, but I’ll still have the space to have fun, be me and be comfortable.”
