Senior Spotlight: Beyoncé's Full Ride to a Bright Future

“I’m excited for a new beginning, and curious to see the person that I’ll become.”

One of the most inspiring stories of graduation season at VIMSIA is that of senior Beyoncé Duverge, who received a "full ride" scholarship covering all expenses related to college, including her room and board in addition to tuition. She is notably also the first person in her family to attend college.

Beyoncé will attend Bentley University in Massachusetts, just outside of Boston, where she plans to study accounting and finance. She aspires to be an accountant, specifically to further develop her skills to one day become a forensic accountant.

"I applied to schools that had a forensic accounting program and Bentley sent me advertisements which I really liked," she says. "The posters had really interesting stories—topics like women in business that I could relate to. And because I'm a first generation college student, this entire experience is new to me and I'm doing it on my own. When I saw that the Bentley postcards mentioned mentorships, that interested me because I want someone to teach me."

In person, Beyoncé comes across as somewhat shy and humble, preferring to ask the questions rather than talk about herself ("I find other people's stories more interesting.”) She was born and raised on St. Thomas as part of a large Haitian family, the oldest of four siblings. Initially she attended Charlotte Amalie High School, before transferring to VIMSIA in tenth grade.

Throughout her time at VIMSIA, Beyoncé has made a point to volunteer with several community organizations, and contributed to projects such as the basketball mural and hosting library events. At this year's graduation ceremony, she received honor cord designations for a GPA over 3.5, being award a varsity letter in sports for volleyball, and having received the student-nominated Learner Profile Award earlier this year.

beyoncé at graduation with her mother and sister.

"I've always wanted to go into business, and I'm not sure where that comes from. But the interest in accounting stemmed from my parents,” she says. “When I was younger, I'd always help them with applications and that inspired me to want to do something similar. I speak Creole and one of my goals is to eventually help non-English speakers fill out financial documents, and make the process easier. Also, I've always been interested in criminal justice and specifically investigating fraud, which is kind of connected to that. I love watching those shows like NCIS and Law & Order."

As part of the college application process, Beyoncé applied for several scholarships and wrote an essay.

"At first, I didn't believe it when I received the email about the full ride. I didn't tell anyone because it didn't seem real. Then I told Ms. Ebe, because I wanted to confirm with her first and sit down with the documents. She hugged me, and then it started to sink in."

with HER LITTLE BROTHER

"My family was happy, but initially they didn't fully understand what it means. Being the first to go to college is a lot of pressure because it feels like "I can't mess up,"; but it also feels like breaking a generational curse in some ways. And setting an example as the oldest child."

Outside of school, one of her favorite activities is braiding the hair of people close to her.

"During Covid, there weren't any hair salons open, so I started by braiding my mother's hair, my sister's hair, my cousin's hair, and eventually others. It takes hours, but the repetition is relaxing and I love to see people's faces afterwards."

As for her next steps, Beyoncé is clearly excited for the transition to college. 

"When I go to Bentley, I really want to get involved with the community, but I'm also excited to learn more about certain topics outside of school. For example, I would love to go to a CES (consumer electronics show). I really want to learn more about tech and specifically, robotics."

scuba diving at coki point beach in st. thomas

She plans to leave St. Thomas in August. "Going to college so far away will be such a new experience for me, but I'm so excited for a new beginning and a fresh start. 

I'm curious to see the person I will become, away from my family and away from everything here."