Verda Tetteh: Ghanaian student who gave her $40,000 scholarship money away speaks
- Verda Tetteh turned down a $40,000 scholarship money she received during her graduation ceremony at Fitchburg High School in the United States
- The Ghanaian student received a full ride to Harvard University with the additional amount but turned it down
- Tetteh asked for the $40,000 scholarship to be donated to a less privileged student in her school
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A US-Ghanaian high school graduate, Verda Tetteh, who turned down her $40,000 scholarship money says she is not the most in need of the amount, reports NBC Nightly News.
Tetteh, 17, received a full ride to Harvard University with the additional $40,000 scholarship for books, computers, and living expenses but she turned it down.
The straight-A student dropped jaws at her school's graduation ceremony when she won the school's coveted scholarship for general excellence and claimed $10,000 for each of the next four years, but unexpectedly returned to the podium within minutes to turn it down.
Source: UGC
''No one had the chance to say ‘Don’t give away $40,000,'' Verda said, adding that ''Yes I would do it again.''
Tetteh indicated she was not the most deprived student of her school.
''It is such a great honour, but I also know that I am not the most in need of it,'' she said.
The benevolent Ghanaian student received standing ovations, during which she heard the assistant principal urge grads to be ''bold and selfless'' and that made her think of her mom who often works 80-hour weeks to provide for her family.
Verda’s mom, Rosemary, brought her to the US as a child from Ghana, always stressing the importance of education.
Rosemary herself earned her bachelor’s degree from a local community college at age 47.
Speaking in an interview with NBC Nightly News, Verda Tetteh, said she believes it was the right thing to do.
''I was very proud and happy at first, but then I sat down and it started hitting me that someone else needs it more. I made my mind to do the right thing,'' she said.
Meanwhile, the details of who now gets her scholarship haven’t been worked out, but Tetteh tackles her pre-med regimen at Harvard this fall.
Watch the video below:
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported a video of a white man communicating in fluent Twi with some Ghanaian diasporas has gone viral on social media.
In the video sighted by YEN.com.gh, the man who has been reported as a native of London in the United Kingdom and the Ghanaian diasporas were aboard a bus to an unknown destination.
The unidentified man contributed to a conversation his Ghanaian seatmate was having with another Ghanaian man in fluent Twi, the video posted on social media captured.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
