A high school graduate who spent 10 years in a refugee camp has been granted about $240,000 worth of scholarships.
Juliane Lukambo was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She and her family fled their home country and ended up spending a decade in Uganda, as reported by CBS affiliate WBNS.
"Due to the ongoing war, we had to move to Uganda as refugees, so that's where I spent most of my childhood," she told the outlet. "Life in the refugee camps was not easy."
The remarkable student and her family later moved to the United States, where she started school as a fifth-grader at Valley Forge Elementary School.
Lukambo spoke about her early experience in the US, saying: "You come here and you don’t know what to expect," and shared that she was inspired to get involved in as many activities as she could at Woodward Park Middle School and Northland High School. This included STEM Club, soccer, and bowling teams.
Along the way, she earned high grades and impressive opportunities, such as being an intern for the Ohio Department of Transportation in their Smart Mobility Ambassador Program.
The high-profile student revealed in a news release from Columbus City Schools that she applies what she learns in STEM Club to the outreach so that she can create activities for younger students.
"Internships are definitely something you should try," she said. "Internships can teach you what you don’t like [in a job], and you can learn something valuable from that."
In addition to interning and managing her school workload, Lukambo also took classes at local colleges such as Northland, Columbus State, and Otterbein University. This allowed her to get "a headstart on what the college experience is".
All her efforts have now paid off as the star-model senior will be graduating at the top of her competitive class as a valedictorian and has also been offered a staggering $240,000 in college scholarships.
She reflected on the time spent in refugee camps as a child to earning the highest grade point average, stating: "Overcoming the adversity that I have had to overcome to reach where I am today has been a real challenging journey, and I would say that from coming from where I'm from, to here now, I would've never expected it, so overcoming all of that is something I'm really grateful for and proud of."
Following her graduation from Northland, Lukambo - who advises others to "get out of your comfort zone" - will be attending the University of Dayton in the fall to pursue a degree in Computer Science.
"I’ve worked really hard all of these years with taking college classes, being involved, and getting the scholarships is showing recognition that I did a lot, and the reward is what I get," Lukambo concluded.
Congratualtions, Lukambo!
