BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Winfield High School rising senior Sydne Alexander now has her college paid for.
Alexander is the 2024 West Virginia Scholar. She gets a free ride to West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Alexander and the other finalists in the annual contest gathered on the Buckhannon campus Tuesday for the annual Scholar luncheon. She thought she was going to leave disappointed.
“They announced the runners-up and I was like, ‘Oh no. I’m going to be disappointed,’ but when when they said my name I started breaking down crying and I said, ‘This could not be happening right now,'” Alexander said.
But it did happen. She told MetroNews it’s a huge relief.
“It does really mean a whole lot because my mom and my dad don’t make much money and it really means a lot that I can do this myself and get my entire college paid for and they can help my brother when he gets to college in a few years. It really means a lot,” she said.
Sydne said she learned about the West Virginia Scholar program through a friend who won the award a few years ago.
She’ll major in health sciences and ultimately wants to become a pediatrician and help children heart-related diseases.
“I want to stay in West Virginia and hopefully own my own practice and help every kid get the help they need,” she said.
The scholarship is worth $160,000. This year marked the 17th for the West Virginia Scholar Program.
The sponsors for the 2024 West Virginia Scholar Program include West Virginia Wesleyan, MetroNews parent company WVRC Media, Greer Industries, Friends of Coal, West Virginia Hospital Association, ZMM Architects & Engineers and the West Virginia Farm Bureau.