Once there was an eager middle schooler scrolling on YouTube watching University of Virginia (UVA) acceptance videos, longing for his turn. He never imagined he would be the one getting accepted, but that all changed once he became a Quest Bridge recipient. Frankely Ramirez (‘24), a first-generation student accomplished his dreams through his hard work and determination despite facing challenges along the way.

Ramirez gained inspiration and motivation from those around him to apply for the scholarship. By talking to his family and friend who was a Quest Bridge finalist, he decided that would be something he wanted to accomplish.

The Quest Bridge application is a rigorous progress and only the first step to becoming a recipient. To apply, one must submit academic activities, household and financial backgrounds, two essays, short answer questions, a high school transcript, standardized tests, and other tedious material. Although the application process can seem like a common application, the Quest Bridge application allows students to express and explain themselves more insightfully.

“The cool thing about it [The Quest Bridge Application] was that it allowed me to describe my circumstances financially and academically and explain my family situation,” Ramirez (‘24).

Then, when becoming a finalist, you can either match to a school or continue with regular college applications and use the title of a finalist as an award. The match program allows Questbridge scholars to apply early decision to 15 schools and they must accept the offer of their highest-ranked school. Ramirez decided to go along with the match program and accepted his highest rank, UVA. With that said, he didn’t think he would be able to match UVA as there was limited space. From a pool of 20,000 students, around 6000 students were selected as finalists. From there, 2000 students were matched to one of the 50 schools, and only 15 students were matched to UVA, Ramirez being one of them.

Like any other person, Ramirez found himself anxiously scrolling through Reddit threads about finalists discussing their stats when he started to doubt himself and deal with imposter syndrome. He eventually overcame this, changed his perspective, and urges other students to not compare themselves with others and to always apply themselves to any opportunity given.

“Especially for low-income students, you must apply. Colleges want us at their campuses,” Ramirez said.

Along with the challenges of this demanding application process, Ramirez took on a full schedule filled with AP and dual enrollment classes, worked on his student-led blog, Upnext2vote, managed the role of being class president, handled track meets, and other extracurricular activities. He often felt the pressure that came with this, but he expressed his appreciation for the teachers at Patriot High School who had been there throughout his journey.

“I love Mrs. Morrill; she’s the best teacher and I spent 12 hours with her just editing essays…she deserves all the praise,” Ramirez said.

Ramirez was class president for his sophomore and junior year and is currently the Student Council Association (SCA) president. When asked what it is he achieved for the student body that he was the proudest of, Ramirez said, “I think our school spirit has gone up from previous years especially coming off the Covid year, and I think I achieved my goal of having as much school spirit, but there could be more.”

Ramirez is looking forward to majoring in political science this upcoming fall and has a passion to educate other students about what’s going on in the world in a way that they can comprehend. Teaming up with friend and fellow co-founder, Abby Boursiquot (‘24), came the idea of Upnext2vote, a student-led political news blog. Even though this project is new, they have successfully started a podcast, with the first episode being an interview with House of Delegate, Ian Lovejoy (R-VA). They plan to continue this project from their college dorms but still have other high school students take over when they graduate.

“Even though we can’t vote right now it’s still important for us to be involved in the political field,” Ramirez said.

Leaving behind the memories of high school pep rallies, favorite teachers, homecoming, and track behind, Ramirez is excited to take on the independence college will bring him and be around those like-minded to him.

10 quick Q’s

1. If you could meet any person, who would it be?
Frank Ocean
2. Where is one place you want to travel to?
Peru
3. What’s your favorite way to relax and unwind?
Music
4. Do you prefer movies or shows?
Shows
5. Favorite song/artist currently?
Alex G, Frank Ocean, The weekend.

6. Favorite class taken?
De English 225 and Ap Psychology.

7. What is your favorite school club at Patriot?

Latin American Student Association (LASA)

8. What is your Favorite season?

Fall

9. What was your most memorable year in high school?

Senior year

10. How would you describe your style in 3 words.

Baggy, thrifted, thrown.