Destiny Paris James, a South Carolina native who received a $50,000 scholarship from Drake when she was an undergraduate student in 2018, is now about to obtain her master's degree from the University of North Carolina.
"Mama, I mastered it. Daddy, I did it," the student wrote on Tuesday. "Four days until I'm officially UNC Alum."
Drake praised James, who also starred in his "God's Plan" music video.
"LETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO DES," the artist wrote, commenting on the graduate's post.
The 23-year-old graduated with a bachelor's degree in public health in 2019 from the University of Miami, E! Online reported. She then majored in the same subject at the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill.
The young woman told her story in a 2018 interview with The Miami Hurricane. Describing her background, James said she was brought up in a single-parent household and educated in the public school system, trying to move forward with limited resources.
She said students at her high school were often seen as kids who weren’t going to really “go anywhere.” But the South Carolina native was determined to break the stereotype.
“I’ve always had this go-above-and-beyond attitude since elementary school,” she said. “I started reading at 3. I would even fight with my older sister when she was 5 or 6 because she wouldn’t let me read her Chicken Noodle Soup books.”
When she was accepted into the University of Miami as an undergraduate student, James faced financial difficulties.
“When I had a certain bill coming up, I would literally obsess over when the pay period starts and ends,” she said. “I would try to squeeze in as many hours and go to my WorkDay and write down all my hours and see how big my check was going to be.”
The challenges kept piling up when James' father was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer and died a short time later. Although she was tempted to give up, she moved forward with her academics, hoping to get financial aid while continuing to work.
Then came the surprise of a lifetime. Darlene Rebello-Rao, assistant vice president of university advancement, asked James to participate in a video to motivate alumni to donate for her financial needs. The student agreed and went to the Frost Music School to shoot the video. But as she sat down in front of the camera to tell her story, Drake walked in with a $50,000 check.
“He said, ‘I’ve read a lot about you,'” James said. “‘I’ve heard your story and all the things you’ve been through and all the hard work you’ve been putting in, so I want to give you $50,000 to pay for your tuition.'”
The 23-year-old student expressed her excitement on Instagram after receiving the check.
"I would've never imagined this happening to me," she wrote. "I'm just a girl from Denmark, SC that wants to MAKE IT and be somebody and for you to see my hard work means the world. Thank you so much. God I thank you. You are so great and amazing! Thank you for blessing me when I thought my hard work was going unnoticed. I'm living out my dreams. God's Plan."
In his music video for "God's Plan," Drake showed himself presenting the check to James and also donating gifts to other people.
"Everything I went through was so worth it," James said in 2019. "Thanks to Drake, I'm probably stressing about classes and work, but I'm not stressing about tuition."
