When her phone rang on the afternoon of January 5 and she saw Lori Bates’s name hovering on her lock screen, Gabby Thompson did a double take. “Is this really happening right now?” she thought. In the back of her mind, she knew it was a possibility, but now reality was staring at her, waiting for her to swipe up. She answered the call.
“Congratulations, Gabby!” Bates said. “You are the Bojangles’ Scholar Athlete of the Year!”
Her surprise was soon overwritten by overwhelming excitement. She had done it. She had just earned a $5,000 scholarship, one that she now plans to use as she pursues her undergraduate degree.
The process for Thompson’s nomination came as My48 called upon Davie High School to present their Scholar Athlete of the Week. Throughout the year, students from various teams were chosen to be Scholar Athlete of the Week. Any athlete selected during the school year was eligible to enter for a chance to receive the scholarship. Women’s Tennis coach Collin Ferebee recalls the selection process and his decision to nominate Thompson. “My process is the highest average GPA and Team Rank,” says Ferebee.
As far as her reaction to her nomination, Thompson recalls, “I had just gotten home from class at DDCC and was working on some homework when I got a text from my mom. She told me not to make any plans because I would be recognized at the football game that night against Mt. Tabor. It was honestly really exciting! I was thankful that Ferebee had chosen me to represent the tennis team. I was also thankful that Mr. Devericks allowed Ferebee to choose a tennis player to represent Davie’s Scholar Athlete of the Week.”
After being chosen as one of My48’s Scholar Athletes of the Week and being featured on television in Davie’s football game against Mt. Tabor, Thompson was placed in a lottery to win the scholarship. Thompson was selected as one of seventeen scholar athletes to continue to the final selection, where she submitted a video to be judged alongside her fellow competitors.
Thompson then entered a lottery with all of My48 Scholar Athletes of the Week to move on to the next part of the contest and was drawn to continue to the next stage. In this, she had to make a video about her accomplishments, activities, and qualifications.
“We had different components to cover in the video, so I came up with ideas based on each component. The grading of the video was 25% academic achievement, 25% athletic accomplishments, 25% community involvement, and 25% why I should win the scholarship.” She went on to recount a few of the difficulties she faced while composing the video.
“It was difficult to include everything that I needed to say in 2 minutes, while also making it entertaining,” Thompson said. “I also found it difficult to edit the video because I had never really edited a video before.”
When asked about her feelings regarding the scholarship, Thompson says, “It was honestly super exciting, and I was glad that all of my hard work had paid off.” She looks forward to putting her award to good use.
“I plan to go to a 4-year university and major in chemistry! The scholarship will go towards my undergraduate degree.”
Thompson is incredibly grateful to have received this award and is excited to apply it to her future. She is especially grateful to Coach Ferebee for his involvement, Coach Devericks for the opportunity, and My48 and the Bojangles team for making this all possible.
