(Black PR Wire) Today, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter announces the four winners of The Formation Scholars Award for the 2017-2018 academic year. The establishment of the merit scholarship program was announced on April 24, in celebration of the one-year anniversary of LEMONADE, her critically-acclaimed and globally-lauded visual album, through her BeyGOOD initiative..

 

Current and incoming female undergraduate and graduate students at Berklee College of Music, including those enrolled at the college’s campuses in Boston and Valencia, Spain, Berklee online and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Howard University in Washington, DC, Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York City, and Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia, were eligible for the scholarships.

 

The Formation Scholars award encourages and supports young women who are bold, creative, conscious, confident and unafraid to think outside the box. Students’ disciplines included creative arts, music, literature and African-American studies. All applicants maintain a 3.5 GPA or above and submitted a short essay stating how LEMONADE inspired their educational goals. All finalists and winners were selected by committees from the colleges and universities.

 

The winners are: 

SADIYA RAMOS

SOPHOMORE

BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC

Sadiya is studying dance at Boston Conservatory at Berklee. Originally from Suffern, New York, she began dancing at the age of six under the guidance of Arthur Mitchell at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. Ramos worked with François Perron at the French Academie of Ballet as a teenager, where she acquired the instruction needed to develop her individual style and improve her performance skills.

AVERY YOUNGBLOOD, SECOND-YEAR STUDENT

PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN

Avery Youngblood is a recent Stanford University graduate, Class of 2016 and an undergraduate student in the AAS (Associates) Graphic Design program at Parsons School of Design at The New School, Class of 2018. As an undergraduate at Stanford she studied Linguistics and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. Avery discovered that it was possible to translate her creative curiosity for design by focusing on language and the social interaction that takes place in our multicultural society, and the variety of platforms we use to connect with one another.

MAYA ROGERS, GRADUATE STUDENT

HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Maya Rogers is a songwriter and vocalist who believes in the power that music has to heal, connect us with one another, and help us understand ourselves more deeply. Maya has returned to school to study music therapy after recovering from a traumatic brain injury in 2013. She describes her recovery as the most frightening and fascinating time of her life, and music played a large role in her regaining the ability to read, write, play music, and sing.

BRIA PAIGE, JUNIOR

SPELMAN COLLEGE

Bria Paige is a rising junior English major at Spelman College from Jackson, Mississippi. At Spelman, Bria is invested in her academics as she maintains membership in the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program, Alpha Lambda Delta honor society, and is a Dean’s List scholar. In addition, Bria holds various leadership positions, including Spelman Student Government Association (SSGA) Secretary of Academic Affairs and co-President of the English Club.