Parkland Senior Is Gates Millennium Scholar

Treyaun Fulton, a senior at Parkland High School, is one 1,000 students nationwide chosen as Gates Millennium Scholars for the Class of 2012. Fulton is going to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he plans to double major in pharmacy and business.

“I plan to become a pharmacist and eventually own my own pharmaceutical company. I hope to better regulate pharmaceuticals so as to reduce the fatalities from prescription drugs,” Fulton said. “This scholarship was the answer to my prayers as well as my family's. Since the age of 10, I have always wanted to attend Carolina and now I'm so happy to be going there as well as never having to worry about financial aid again!”

The good-through-graduation Gates Millennium scholarships can be used to pursue degrees in any undergraduate major at the accredited college or university of the recipients’ choice. Gates scholars may also request continued funding for a graduate-degree program in computer science, education, engineering, library science, mathematics, public health or science.

Fulton received other scholarships as well, including the Dean Prim Scholarship, which is worth $1,500 a year for four years and includes a trip to China, and the Crumley Roberts Chairman's Scholarship, which came with $1,000 and an iPad.

For the Gates Millennium scholarship, Fulton was chosen from more than 24,000 students who applied. Established in 1999 by a $1.6 billion grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the program is designed to help develop the leaders of the future. The goal of GMS is to promote academic excellence by providing thousands of outstanding students, who have significant financial need, the opportunity to reach their full potential.

“Education continues to be the best pathway to opportunity, and we believe that college costs should not be an obstacle along that path,” said Jim Larimore the deputy director for student success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “That’s why scholarships like the Gates Millennium Scholars Program and others are so important. Scholarships provide students who have the will to get a post-secondary education with a way to get one, thereby securing a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.”

The members of the 2012 group come from 47 states as well as the District of Columbia, the Marshall Islands and four U.S. territories: Federated States of Micronesia, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and will be attending 348 colleges and universities. Current Gates Scholars attend a total of 723 colleges and universities across the country.

For more information about GMS and a list of the Class of 2012 Gates Millennium Scholars, visit www.gmsp.org.