Couldn't find a man to accept me for prom so I took a college that did #Harvard2021#prom2k17 💕🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/vIw2524wXu
— • (@prizxillas) April 30, 2017
Priscilla Samey is the first person from Champlin High School in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota to be accepted to Harvard, and she didn’t stop there. Samey was accepted to a total of seven out of eight Ivy League schools.
Yet on Saturday, Samey found herself without a date to her high school’s prom. Of course, she didn’t let a little thing like that stop her from attending the senior year festivity.
Samey, being the flawless genius that she clearly is, decided to take her Harvard acceptance letter to prom. Her Twitter post has now gone viral with over 124,000 likes, and nearly 30,000 shares.
Samey is a first-generation American. Her Togolese parents immigrated from the West Africa to Canada. Her father is a qualified doctor, who nonetheless struggled to find a job after immigrating to the US.
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“The story of me is one marked with triumph over adversity, but the story of my father, one of hard work and strength in the face of constant defeat, is the true story of immigrants in this country,” Samey wrote in her college essay application according to the Tab. “Therefore I can never tell my story without telling his.”
Her essay continues, describing classmates who poked fun at her while she learned English as a second language, and the anti-immigrant discrimination her father faced while applying for positions as a doctor in Minnesota. He eventually found a position as an entry-level physician, despite a PhD and years of experience practicing medicine.
“Just like me, my father was confronted with language barriers, but his battle was further aggravated by discrimination,” wrote Samey.
But Samey, who eloquently expresses the tragedy of stereotypes and discrimination in the world is rising above them.
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Now, post-prom, she is on her way to Harvard with plans to continue her love of public speaking, music, and then graduate onto law school.
Samey doesn’t need a date to confirm her self-worth. But there is one man who never doubted her abilities.
Upon hearing she was accepted to seven Ivy League schools, her dad said, “I told you so!” according to the Tab.
Samey’s story of overcoming the odds shows the importance of girls’ education and empowerment. When girls have access to an education, they can trump societal norms of any type, much like Samey did. Her story is a reminder: high school dances may be be overrated, but education, well, that lasts forever.