PAWTUCKET The first acceptance letter came from Brown University. The next one from Harvard. When a thick envelope arrived from Yale University, Victoria Wijerathnayapa was totally blown away.

Wijerathnayapa is not only the first student from Blackstone Valley Prep to get into Harvard and Yale, she is the first one to be admitted to three Ivy League institutions.

Her first reaction?

"I was super happy," Wijerathnayapa said Thursday. "It was a really emotional experience, but a happy one."

The good news doesnt stop there. She was accepted at eight other colleges, including Brandeis, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Williams and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

A first-generation college student whose mother is from Sri Lanka, Wijerathnayapa is not one to brag. She acknowledges that she doesnt fit the typical Ivy League mold. She didnt study abroad or attend a prestigious public or private school. In fact, shes never left New England.

She attributes her success to Blackstone Valley Prep, a cluster of charter schools in northern Rhode Island where college banners adorn classroom doors, where race and equity are part of the fabric of conversation.

In her Pawtucket elementary school, Wijerathnayapa says, she felt singled out for being bright.

In fifth grade, Wijerathnayapa won the lottery, literally. She was admitted to BVP, where her fortunes brightened.

"At BVP, my hard work and determination were not credited to my race but rather to my character," she said. "People here accepted me for who I was, not what I looked like."

Blackstone Valley Prep did more than encourage her academic brilliance. It allowed her to choose from a palette of enriching experiences, from attending a summer program at Brown University to taking a years worth of college classes at the Community College of Rhode Island, where she is currently taking cellular biology, English composition and public speaking.

At BVP, Wijerathnayapa said, she feels known. She ticked off the teachers who have been friends and mentors: Mr. Leger, her chemistry teacher and track coach; and Mr. Jose, one of her college and career counselors.

"Just this morning, I was stressed out about having to apply for scholarships, and online learning. So many things were coming at me," she said. "Being a first-generation student, not knowing how to navigate the system, I reached out to Ashley Gemma, my college counselor. We discussed how to arrange my time better. She helped me figure out what the next steps were."

Although she and her younger brother were born here, Wijerathnayapa still sees the world through an immigrants eyes, her mothers eyes.

"She sacrificed herself. She tells me theyve all been worth it."

Sri Lanka, a tropical island off the coast of India, was wracked by civil war for 26 years, from 1983 to 2009. In 2004, a typhoon killed some 30,000 residents.

"My mom is the rock in my life," she said. "Ever since I was born, she was pushing me to take advantage of all of the opportunities life gives you. I am eternally grateful to her."

A trip to the Museum of Science in Boston triggered Wijerathnayapas interest in neuroscience, her likely major in college. But an internship with the Rhode Island Board of Elections in eighth grade sent her in a separate direction: political science.

"I realized that youth voter apathy is a big problem," she said.

David Jose, the dean of BVPs college and careers, recalled how Wijerathnayapa walked around the cafeteria, imploring students to register to vote. Then she managed to get actual voting machines to the school for a student council election.

"She has so many interests," Jose said. "You could talk to her for hours about neuroscience and psychology. And you could talk to her for many hours about philosophy and political science."

Jose felt Wijerathnayapa was destined to have her choice of the most selective colleges. But he said getting admitted to an Ivy League school wasn't what motivated her.

"Her first goal was to learn as much as possible," Jose said. "That ethos drove her regardless. Nobody gets into three Ivies."

Her mother, he said, is her core influence.

"Her mom is a big cheerleader," he said. "But Victoria is also very connected to the Sri Lankan community. Its important for her to represent as much as possible the immigrant community. In a conversation we had the other day, she was asking, "What can I do to give back?"

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Brown, Harvard, Yale. Pawtucket teen has been accepted to all 3, and more - The Providence Journal