Wilbur Cross student Thea Ranelli with her new Amazon-funded scholarship.
Wilbur Cross senior Thea Ranelli opened a seemingly ordinary Amazon package Tuesday to find not a box of soap or a new pair of pants — but a $40,000 scholarship to study computer science at a college of her choice.
Ranelli became one of 100 high school seniors around the country to be awarded the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, a new scholarship from the Seattle-based tech giant that grants high school students $10,000 per year over four years to study computer science at whichever college they attend.
“Oh my God,” Ranelli said as she opened her Amazon box at the school Tuesday.
“I wasn’t expecting this.”
“Did you hear that?” Principal Edith Johnson said. “It’s $10,000.”
“A year?” asked Ranelli.
“A year.”
Ranelli will also receive a guaranteed paid internship offer at Amazon after her freshman year of college as part of the scholarship.
Watch her surprise delivery in the above video.
“Recipients were chosen for their academic achievement,” Amazon’s Tuesday press release read, “demonstrated leadership, participation in school and community activities, work experience, future goals, and diversity. All of the recipients demonstrated financial need and more than half of the students are from an underrepresented group in the computer science field.”
Among her activities, Ranelli runs track and has participated in the Yale Young Global Scholars program.
WAY COOL !!!!! Good news for a change.