Bowie Teen Folasade Sofela Heads to Harvard

Applying to Harvard had never occurred to Folasade Sofela, until she received a brochure from the Ivy League school last summer. With her mother's encouragement she applied and now the Bowie teen is headed to Boston's Harvard University this fall.

“After I started the application process, I was invested and I really wanted to go,” Sofela recalls.

Described by those who know her as “quiet,” “focused,” and “determined;” a member of the varsity tennis team and an English as a Second Language teacher, winner of a National Achievement Scholarship with National Merit Scholarship Program, it comes as little surprise that Sofela was accepted into one of the most prestigious schools in the country, though she’s not one to brag.

“What’s most refreshing about Fola is is is very academically drive, but very modest about it,” said Cheryl Barber, who is the director of college counseling at the Georgia boarding school, Raburn Gap Nachoochee School, where Sofela spent her high school years.

Her advanced placement English teacher, Kathy Henning, said in an email that Sofela consistently earned As on the most difficult of assignments, when her classmates were struggling to earn Bs.

“She gets it- she reads poetry and always seeks and finds the deeper meaning, she thinks more profoundly than many of her age group and never becomes complacent with her achievements- unusual compared to so many who just want to get the A and then coast intellectually,” wrote Henning.

Growing up, Sofela always knew education was important. Her family places a high value on education and they sacrificed a lot to send her to the private preparatory school, Raburn Gap, so she could achieve her potential, according to Sofela.

Sofela credits Raburn Gap with helping helping her reach her academic goals.

“They try to do the best to make sure that you succeed, and I think that was really important because it’s really easy to give up when things get hard, but there is a really good support system here,” Sofela says of the school.

As if being accepted into Harvard was not impressive enough, Sofela was also accepted into Yale. Though the decision gave her pause, she is very excited that she chose Harvard, where she plans to study neurobiology with hope of eventually attending medical school and possibly embarking on a career in medical research.

She’ll be spending the summer at Georgetown working on a medical research program with the National Institutes of Health to gauge her interest in the subject.

When not working at Georgetown, Sofela is looking forward to spending time with her family and friends this summer, gearing up for the new adventures that await her this fall at Harvard.