WASHINGTON – Just a few weeks shy of graduation, Jasmina Rivas, a high school senior, prepared for school Thursday like she does every day in her Petworth home in Washington, D.C. She brushed her teeth, mentally ran through her school routine, grabbed a bite and wondered how she would pay for college.

Determined to pursue international relations at her first choice school, the University of Maryland in College Park, Rivas knows attendance at Maryland’s flagship public university would mean depleting her immigrant parents’ life savings. While mulling over financial options, she remembered that her guidance counselor told her to dress professionally that day for an event at a D.C. school that she did not attend.

Arriving at Benjamin Banneker High School in her best business attire, Rivas was met by a group of friends and teachers, thinking she was expected to participate in a community service event.

The confused Rivas along with six other District high school seniors were surprised to become the first students in the nation this year to receive Gates Millennium scholarships—a full-ride academic award covering all college expenses.

Standing on the stage with the white envelopes that have become their golden tickets to college, recipients gushed and grinned in the onslaught of camera flashes, inarticulate in classic red-carpet shock.

“When they called my name, I was like ‘Oh my God, is this legit?’” Rivas said. “It didn’t seem real.”

Fifty-seven high-achieving Washington, D.C., students applied for the competitive Gates scholarships, which are administered by the United Negro College Fund. The Gates awards are the nation’s largest and most visible minority scholarship program.

Only seven D.C. students were chosen: Jose Gutierrez of Saint Anselm’s Abbey School; Elzabad Kennedy of McKinley Technology High School; Jasmina Rivas of the School Without Walls; Erwin Sweetwine, Jovalee Thompson, and Mary Amaechi, all of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School; and Isaiah West of Ballou High School.