The Gorgas Scholarship Committee announced this week that the winner of the first-pace tuition grant of $4,000 was Arrix Ryce, a senior at Jefferson County International Baccalaureate School.
"After being named the winner, I realized that this win wasn't just a win for me; winning the Gorgas Competition was a win for the black community," Ryce said in an email to AL.com.
"Nothing comes easy, and neither did this win. But hard work pays off. And hard work, when coupled with persistence, is the only thing that will enable us as a society to solve global issues and sustain tomorrow's world."
