There wasn’t a dry eye inside the Madison Park Vocational High School cafeteria Monday morning after two Boston Public Schools student-athletes were surprised with a full-ride to college.
Rosedina Blanc, a senior at Madison Park, and Ann Merullo, a senior at Boston Latin Academy, could hardly speak through their tears as both were awarded the four-year scholarships from Scholar Athletes. The two will be going into nursing, Blanc at Curry College and Merullo at Regis University.
“Emotions just overtook me and I am so very grateful,” Blanc said.
“My mom is a housekeeper and my dad is a janitor so seeing them clean floors and fix beds, it really touched my heart to become somebody and I just want the best for us,” she said, adding that without the scholarship, “I believe I would be going to college but I would be struggling a lot.”
For Blanc, who played volleyball, and Merullo, who was a cheerleader, the scholarships are life changing.
“I would cry almost every week going into the zone because I didn’t think I was going to be able to afford college,” Merullo said. “So this is amazing and probably the biggest thing to happen to me.”