Taheshah Moise

WFMY-TV, Greensboro, N.C.

GREENSBORO, N.C.— A Greensboro teen's hard work paid off in a big way. Jasmine Harrison, 17, was accepted to 113 colleges and universities and awarded more than $4.5 million in merit-based scholarships.

Harrison will graduate from The Academy at Smith on May 24th with an expected 4.0 GPA.

With help from her school's faculty and her mother, she was able to apply to all those schools for just $135.

Harrison was awarded full rides to three schools: Ed Waters College in Jacksonville, FL, Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, MS, and Bennett College in Greensboro, NC.

All three are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In fact, she was able to apply to 53 HBCUs with just one Common Black College Application and got into 26 that way.

"When I got the first couple in the mail, I was like, 'Okay, this is really happening.' I didn't really think I'd be able to do that," Harrison said.

Harrison also took advantage of the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) College Application Week, where she was apple to apply to a number of North Carolina schools for free.

Then on top of that, the Common Application allowed her to apply to 20 more at once.

Harrison spent hours pouring over each entry making sure it was perfect and called on her faith when she wanted to quit.

"On those late nights when I was filling out those applications with my mom and we just felt like we cannot do this, we just ended up singing gospel songs together to get through the night." Harrison said.

Harrison plans to attend Bennett College on a full ride and major in biology. She said she wants to become a NICU nurse.

Follow Taheshah Moise on Twitter @Taheshah