Incoming student and recent grad success stories

He Dropped A Bomb On His Classmates During His Valedictorian Speech. He Was Homeless All Through School.

"A Jacksonville, Fla. native has taken the country by storm with his message of never giving up. Through homelessness, the death of his mother and numerous other hardships endured on his way to becoming class valedictorian, Griffin Furlong never missed a class and has graduated with a perfect GPA from First Coast High School. His story is beyond inspiring. It sheds light on the issue of teenage homelessness and the will to get through anything. Griffin’s friends started a fundraiser to help him throughout his time at Florida State University. They’ve raised over $100,000 thus far.



Meet Brooke Rucker of Georgia, America's Distinguished Young Woman for 2014


"Brooke Rucker of Cartersville, Ga. knew from the time she was 11 years old that she wanted to be a Distinguished Young Woman.
When she walked across the stage Saturday night to accept the title of 2014 Distinguished Young Woman of America, it was a culmination of a journey that started with her family.
"(My brother) had a friend who participated back when it was Junior Miss, and he told me, 'Brooke, this is a great program, I think it's something you should definitely consider doing,'" she explained. "So my junior year comes along, I sign up for my local program, and just being a part of that already made me fall in love with Distinguished Young Women so much."
Rucker credited her family as her constant inspiration, right up through finals night where they cheered her from the audience.
"My entire family has really inspired me to keep going even when it gets hard," she said. "There's been times where I've just sat on my bed, and I've said, 'I don't think I can do this anymore,' and they've encouraged me to keep working hard – that I can get through that and I can achieve that final goal at the end."
Along with the title came a gold medal and a $50,000 scholarship. But just as important, Rucker has been inspired to give back to her community each step along the way – and that community has continued to grow.
"As I got to each building block, it kind of became a bigger contribution to me, the more I wanted to give back," she said. "Being here, now I just want to give back to the whole nation, really just reach out and touch everyone."
On top of the duties that come with being America's new Distinguished Young Woman, Rucker will attend Florida State University in the fall to study choreography. She fell in love with creating dance routines after joining a musical theater group in high school.
"In my sophomore year, my director actually chose me and another girl to be dance captains," she said. "So basically, we began to choreograph some of the numbers for our shows -- so as we started to choreograph, I realized I just enjoyed making up dances and interacting with people, teaching them the dances. So by my junior year, I had decided I definitely wanted to be a choreographer and this was something I wanted to do with my life."
Living up to Distinguished Young Women's message of Be Your Best Self, Rucker already plans to get involved with community life on campus.
"I can't wait to really put myself out there and get to meet new people, and maybe even get to start a club of my own," she said.
Rucker doesn't plan to stop at becoming America's Distinguished Young Woman, though. In the future, she sees herself choreographing on Broadway – though she's prepared for the hard work it will take to get there.
"I'll probably have to start off as a dancer, so I'd really like it if I could get – maybe in New York – a new job and something that will really help me transition into that choreographing aspect," she said.
But for now, she's content to tackle the immediate future, with the help of friends she made along the way.
"You'll see so many competitions, and people can be so bitter, disappointed – however, that's not this program and that's not these girls," she said. "They're all so supportive, and they're just so loving and caring and saying all great things like, 'We know you'll be a great representative.' It's nice to know you're supported by your peers like that."


We are happy to share with you about our former GG- Tori Cowen who just won Miss Florida and will now compete for Miss America


"They're the nations best and we are happy to call them Noles- the FSU Golden Girls. We are happy to share with you about our former GG- Tori Cowen who just won Miss Florida and will now compete for Miss America"