Pleasant Valley is known for many things, but perhaps the most important is the school’s outstanding student success in the classroom. Four students have demonstrated that their academic success at Pleasant Valley will allow them to flourish in college- and with a substantial scholarship to the University of Iowa. These students, Subrat Acharya, Jack Lynn, Sophia Xio and Abby Davison, have received the Presidential Scholarship that will allow them to attend the school virtually for free. The scholarship provides up to $20,000 for tuition and fees in the first year and is renewable for an additional three years or until scholars receive their bachelor’s degree.

In order to even be considered for the scholarship, students must have earned at least a 3.8 grade-point average and achieved an ACT composite score of 33. The students must then apply for the scholarship and out of the thousands of applicants from around the country, only 43 will be granted the scholarship. That means that this year almost 10 percent of the recipients were from Pleasant Valley. This is not only a testimate to the school itself, but to the students who dedicated themselves to their academics and succeeded with flying colors. The students received the recognition and reward they deserved from the University of Iowa, and its time they get the same recognition from their peers.

The University of Iowa commented on the effort of selected students. “Each year, selectors representing the University of Iowa’s five undergraduate colleges and a broad spectrum of academic disciplines come together to review hundreds of applications, looking for clear evidence of extraordinary intellectual curiosity, exceptional academic ability, and authentic connection to community in the words and experiences students share with us.”

One of the students who received the scholarship was Abby Davison. She said that when she found out she had won the scholarship she was more than excited. “I got the email a week earlier than expected while I was sitting in Dunn Bros, so I was trying really hard not to start crying. I was beyond excited and extremely relieved.” It is hard to blame Davison, seeing as this scholarship will provide her a free education and allow her to have further opportunities. “This scholarship means I won’t have any undergraduate debt to worry about,” Davison continued, “I have opportunities and resources that I otherwise wouldn’t have, like early connection to academic research on campus.”

Davison gave some credit to Pleasant Valley for her success, saying that although she only attended the school for a year, “I feel like I’ve been well prepared for higher education by excellent teachers.” At the University of Iowa Davison will be studying Neuroscience on a pre-med track. She hopes to attend medical school and then become a neurologist.

Another student who earned the tremendous scholarship was Subrat Acaharya who said, “I was very excited and proud of myself.” Acaharya plans to major in Biomedical Engineering and minor in Spanish. He also plans to attend medical school after college.