Lifestyle | April 15th, 2020

FAMU Student Sha’Riauna Campbell Sips $10,000 Worth of Tea

By: Kailyn Rhone

Got tea worth $10,000? Florida A&M University first-year Business Administration student Sha’Riauna Campbell does and is willing to spill the tea instead of sip. On Monday, April 13, Campbell won the More Than Tea Tour Scholarship for $10,000 after almost four months of waiting for the reveal of the winner on the @morethanteatour Instagram page.

Campbell is proud that her hard work in this competition has finally paid off and was thrilled to find out the news from her loved ones in the morning.

“I was really excited to know that I had won, I knew that this was something I worked really hard on and just needed to remain patient about,” said Campbell. “I just felt overjoyed to accomplish this and make all the professors, mentors, peers, family members and friends of mine who were rooting for me for months proud.” 

While most would be ready to spend this $10,000, Campbell plans to save the money until the fall semester. Campbell wants to fund the money towards accomplishing her goals so she can have the ability to give back to her community.

Campbell’s main goal is to have minority individuals benefit from her project of creating a minority youth mentorship and outreach program within the next five years.

“My mind is full of ideas and all I want is to keep dreaming and accomplishing goals. There is so much that can be done in our community, in our state, in our nation, and even all around the world. I want to keep working on making a difference even if it is just a small one.”

So who spilled the tea to Shari about her winning this $10,000 scholarship? Her ecstatic mother, Bettina Campbell, was the first person to tell her about this accomplishment over the phone. Bettina Campbell says that she’s been following the scholarship’s Instagram page ever since she found out her daughter was in the competition. 

“Only thing I kept repeating was ‘She won, she won!’ My heart was racing, I was so excited for her,” said Bettina Campbell. “We’re so very proud of her. We’ve watched her blossom into a beautiful dedicated hardworking young lady. She masters everything she puts her mind to.”

Campbell’s mother works in White-Wilson Medical Center as a phlebotomist and was working with a patient when she found out the big news. Bettina Campbell says that COVID-19 has her family worried about contracting the virus from her job. Bettina Campbell explains how COVID-19 has affected her celebration of her daughter winning.

“Honestly, I am just fortunate that in the midst of all of this bad news it seems like we all are constantly receiving, it was great to receive some good news. It definitely did brighten up all of our day, our week really.”

Bettina Campbell was not the only loved one affected by celebrating her daughter’s victory. One of her mentors, Christelle Haygood, a third-year Business Administration student, was supposed to take her out for brunch and is prohibited because of the virus. However, Haygood gives advice to Sha’Riuana Campbell moving forward.

“Continue to keep going even if it gets difficult because it will. Nothing comes easy to those that want a successful future,” says Haygood. Always remember “Don’t talk, just act. Don’t say, just show. Don’t promise, just prove. Push yourself because no one is going to do it for you!”

Regardless of COVID-19, Sha’Riuana Campbell proceeds to continue her plans of creating her program and plans on applying for more scholarships. She says she wants to take advantage of every opportunity while inspiring others to do the same during this pandemic and plans to return in fall 2020 as a First Year Experience (F.Y.E) peer mentor.

To see more about the winner of More Than Tea Tour Scholarship, follow her Instagram @cinnamonapples_.