Born in Ghana, West Africa, Victoria and her family immigrated to the United States in the fall of 2009 to pursue the exceptional educational opportunities offered by this country. Her parents, who value the power of an education, instilled in her the passion to excel academically from a young age. Coming from a family of students (both her father and mother are currently pursuing higher education), Victoria has seen firsthand the amount of dedication required to realize her dreams and is determined to go the extra mile. As the first of five children, Victoria sees it as her duty to set a positive example and encourage her siblings to excel in any field they choose.
As a student who thrives on academic challenge, Victoria began taking AP Courses her sophomore year. She is an AP Scholar with Distinction with 10 AP Courses to her credit. Winning awards such as the Most Outstanding AP English 11 Student, Most Outstanding AP European History Student and the Most Outstanding AP Chemistry Student, earned her the votes of her senior class as the Most Intelligent Female. Victoria will be graduating 4th in her class of about 360. She is currently a member of her high school’s National Honor Society and Math Honor Society (Mu Alpha Theta). As a respected student, she was selected as a delegate to the American Legion Women Auxiliary Alabama Girls State Conference (June 2013), where she was elected as a State Council Member. She considers this experience a confirmation of her desire to enter public service later in life. She also represented her high school at Alabama’s Hugh O’Bryan Youth Leadership Conference in 2011, an enrichment of her leadership abilities.
A self-described Francophile, Victoria has dedicated herself to the study of the French language and culture. Her efforts in her French classes earned her the award of Most Outstanding French Student for three years in a row. Because of her knowledge of the French language and her leadership skills, Victoria has been appointed the President of the French Club and National French Honor Society.
While keeping in touch with her Ghanaian roots, Victoria has fully embraced her new country, the USA, because of her involvement in her high school’s Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFJROTC). Her corps instructors see her as focused and ambitious, possessing the ability to motivate others toward task completion while remaining very personable and humble. Since the founding of her high school’s AFJROTC corps in 1994, there had never been a female African American Cadet Corps Commander until Victoria’s appointment in the fall semester of her senior year. In 2013, Victoria was honored as the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Most Outstanding Junior ROTC Cadet in the United States, becoming the first candidate from Alabama to win this honor since its inception in 1996. Due to her introduction to the U.S military, Victoria is motivated to give back to this nation through service in the Air Force as a medical doctor.
Victoria has worked with her local American Cancer Society by volunteering to do clerical work at their offices and also leading a team in fundraising towards the annual Relay for Life event. In addition, Victoria has led a team of students from her school in volunteering for the local Special Olympics. Through working with organizations focusing on disease, Victoria has decided to pursue a career in pediatric medicine as the best way of medically helping afflicted individuals from an early age.
