Adelade Edgington wins full scholarship to Texas A&M

Olney High School 2023 graduate Adelade Edgington will attend Texas A&M University in Bryan-College Station on a “full ride” four-year scholarship that she won through the Terry Foundation.

The Terry Traditional Scholarship, or Freshman Scholarship, covers up to eight semesters and is awarded to Texas high school seniors who have been accepted for admission to one of the Terry- affiliated public universities in Texas, the foundation says.

Ms. Edgington, who served as drum major, president of her class and the OISD’s National Honor Society chapter, said the scholarship made her dream of attending A&M to study political science a reality.

She was chosen to interview with a panel of six Terry Foundation scholars in Houston after writing an essay and completing an application, she said. “I talked about how I really wanted to go to A&M but it was just so expensive that I was possibly going to have to go somewhere else,” she said, adding that she had received a $1,500 scholarship from A&M.

In her essay, she talked about her experience as a leader and mediator between students and teachers. “If people felt like you cared about them and you did care about them they would react much differently if you asked them to do things for the group,” she said.

She received notice that she had won the scholarship during a lunch period at school. “I opened the email and I thought it wasn’t real,” she said. “This actually is a full ride and I thought we were reading it wrong. I showed everybody and I cried a little bit - I have to be honest. I feel very blessed because there are a lot of smart and talented kids and I can’t believe I was given it.”

Ms. Edgington will live on the same dorm floor as the other freshmen Terry Scholars, with whom she is already communicating via group chat.

“That has helped me feel like A&M is not so big,” she said. “We have this group already … and we know each other and we’re from all different places. “