The college application process can spur fear in many high schoolers, but the power of betting on yourself will always take you far. It’s that mentality that has led Georgia high school senior Makenzie Thompson to academic excellence, according to CNN. The 18-year-old, who is described as a “star student throughout high school,” applied to 51 universities and has since received 49 acceptance letters along with over $1 million in scholarship offers. The leap of faith came after Thompson attended college fairs and received fee waivers, the outlet reports. As of now, she only has one pending letter. “It was a very, very good experience, just to see your hard work paying off and getting to see them just pile up in a folder,” she said, according to CNN. “My family is ecstatic. Getting 49 acceptances and over 1.3 million, they’re like ‘wow, you’re going places.'”

Earlier this week, MacKenzie Scott opened her purse for six HBCUs , reports CNN. In a post published to Medium, Jeff Bezos’ former wife pledged to donate a portion of her wealth to several organizations and institutions. The lucky recipients? Howard University, which received $40 million; Hampton University, which received $30 million; Tuskegee University, which received $20 million. Plus, Xavier University of Louisiana — who said the donor wished to remain anonymous — and Morehouse College also announced that they each received $20 million donations and were all named on the list. However, Spelman College did not disclose the donation amount. “I began work to complete my pledge with the belief that my life had yielded two assets that could be of particular value to others: the money these systems helped deliver to me, and a conviction that people who have experience with inequities are the ones best equipped to design solutions,” Scott said of the 116 organizations she donated to,...