Oglethorpe Chemistry major Annika (Alex) Foret ’23, a 2019 graduate of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, has won a $1,000 SAGE Scholars scholarship in a nationwide essay contest.

Alex Foret ’23 with her mentor Dr. David Cantrell, an American Studies and Research in the Humanities teacher at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics.

Foret was one of only 100 scholarship recipients in the country who wrote winning essays.

Students could submit essays on various topics, including “why you selected an independent, private college over a state or public college.” Foret elected to write about how small universities like Oglethorpe can “prioritize…individual learning over routine memorization,” and “how the Core program at Oglethorpe allows me to keep studying the humanities, even as a chemistry major.”

“Winning this scholarship really took some of the stress off of paying for the smaller things such as books, allowing me to enjoy the last bit of my summer,” said Foret. “I had actually forgotten I had even applied, so I was shocked when I got the email saying I had won. I immediately called my my mom and I’m pretty sure I just screamed into the phone for the first few seconds of the call.”

SAGE Scholars recently pledged $1 million in college scholarships over the next five years for students attending one of over 400 private colleges and universities in the network. These scholarships are named “gap scholarships” with the goal of helping families fill in the gap between what they have to pay for their children to go to college and what colleges and universities can offer in terms of financial aid.

SAGE Scholars is the nation’s oldest and largest private college preparation and funding organization, and has been helping families secure the best possible private college education at a discounted price for nearly a quarter of a century.

Above: Foret pictured during a school trip to Italy.