NEW ORLEANS – After receiving more than 115 college and university acceptances and nearly $4 million in scholarship offers, International High School of New Orleans (IHSNO) senior Antoinette Love has officially announced her decision to attend Eureka College in Eureka, Illinois. Details were shared in a press release.
Surrounded today by friends, family, IHSNO officials and Eureka College president Dr. Jamel Wright, who flew into New Orleans for the announcement, Love officially accepted Eureka’s offer to attend their college, beginning this fall. Love, who plans to major in elementary education, chose Eureka for its strong tradition of producing some of the country’s best educators.
“With so many colleges offering me acceptances, it was a very difficult decision to make,” said Love. “After lots of prayers, talks with my family and school counselors, we decided Eureka would best put me on the path to becoming an educator.”
Love is the oldest of five children, and her parents, Anthony and Yolanda Love, say they’ve wanted the best for her since they were just teenagers when Antoinette came into the world.
“I was nervous when her dad and I had her at the young ages of 15 and 17 and I was frightened when she was viciously attacked by a dog as a two-year-old and survived,” said Yolanda, who gave birth to her daughter six weeks prematurely. Love only weighed 4.4 pounds when she was born.
The national spotlight has been on Love for weeks now as word of her record number of acceptances and scholarships swept the country, and her decision today ends weeks of suspense for the Love family and the inquiring national media.
“We couldn’t be happier with Antoinette’s decision to attend Eureka College and to follow in our footsteps to become a premier educator,” said Sean Wilson, head of school for IHSNO which is a public, college preparatory International Baccalaureate high school located in the heart of downtown New Orleans.
Love, who is also a gifted painter, applied to more than 115 schools nationwide with the help of her counselor Denise James, who is credited with motivating Love and 2018’s record recipient Darrin Francois.
Love was inducted into the National Senior Beta Club, the National Honor Society, the National English Honor Society, and Rho Kappa National Social Studies Honor Society in her four years at IHSNO, but spends most of her time helping to raise her four siblings ranging in age from 9 to 15. Her 15-year-old brother suffers from cystic fibrosis.
“We’re ecstatic Antoinette chose Eureka College,” said Wright. “Our long tradition of producing some of the country’s best educators starts with students like Antoinette who have a passion for inspiring and teaching others.”
Like Love, nearly two-thirds of Eureka’s approximately 600 students are first-generation, all of whom are invited to participate in Eureka’s First Generation Program. The program provides learning and networking opportunities for all four years of the student experience. Students are guided by mentors and dedicated staff, who help ensure that program participants are prepared not just for graduation, but for a long, fulfilling life and career.
In addition to all of the educational opportunities at Eureka, the campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has unique resources such as the Ronald Reagan Museum and Peace Garden, which displays a piece of the Berlin Wall and the Mark R. Shenkman Research Center, which includes a comprehensive collection of books about President Reagan.
Eureka offers Love the opportunity to receive highly personalized attention on a small but historic college campus, and expand her funnel of experience in all of her areas of interest.
