Bolden began researching universities and colleges that sparked an interest in applying to. She spoke with Good Morning America about her lack of confidence in receiving the amount she did. Bolden also spent her time outside of school studies with the high school marching band, as a member of the speech and debate club, and as a student government member.

“Once school started, I just decided to go ahead and knock it out and start applying to a bunch of schools,” Bolden said. “I didn’t think that I would get to this point of $1.4 million in scholarships, but I’m very grateful that I am, and I’m very grateful that I have the opportunity to get this far.”

A Jim Hill academic adviser, Frank Branch, told GMA that the school has seen at least one student per year have a remarkable year, but Bolden’s success story is unique. Bolden applied to over 60 colleges and 80 scholarships and received 34 acceptances and offers.

“Every year, we normally would have $1 million, $2 million, or $3 million babies, as we call them. But this is the first time that we’ve had anyone achieve over a million dollars in September,” Branch said. “Normally, this will happen in January, so I’m very proud of Dana.”

Bolden is still awaiting notices from other colleges, especially from her dream school, Duke University. She hopes to major in biology and pursue a medical career as a trauma surgeon. Bolden wants her peers to chase their dreams and to start early to avoid the stress and anxiety that come with applying to schools and scholarships.

“A lot of my classmates put off applying to college because they think that they’re not good enough to get in, or they don’t think that they’ll meet the standards that they’ve set for themselves, but I feel like all you have to do is sit down, make this list, apply to colleges. You never know where you’ll end up,” Bolden said.