MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A happy moment soon turned into a scare for Madi Kilgore, who is planning to attend Maryville College in the fall after almost missing out on a $100,000 scholarship offer.
"I opened it and I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' I can't believe I didn't open this sooner," said Kilgore.
She never opened a letter from Maryville College that offered her the money. Madi had a list of dream schools that included Maryville College, but thinking she couldn't afford it, she ended up choosing to go to a community college over the spring.
Then, while filming a video for TikTok, she opened an old piece of mail from Maryville College. It turned out to be more than junk mail. It was a notification that she was accepted into the college with a scholarship offer. However, there was only one day left to accept.
"I thought I was locked down already. I was so shocked and so mad at myself for not opening my mail," she said.
After believing there was nothing else to do but laugh, Madi posted the video on TikTok.
But then, the social media platform came to the rescue. Her video was shared hundreds of times, got hundreds of thousands of "likes," and was seen on millions of devices. It caught the eye of the team at Maryville College, and they were determined to make the situation right.
"I gave her a quick phone call and she was very gracious and sweet. I explained that the scholarship is still an option for her and will be made available again and that we hope she chooses Maryville to be her home for the next four years," said Dr. Alayne Bowman, the Vice President of Admissions at the college.
Madi ended up picking Maryville College to attend and will be starting this fall.
"Definitely open your mail. Even if you're getting 300 pieces of it from college, just open it," said Madi.