Korey's parents are her biggest supporters, but now that she's earned a scholarship to study out of state, they're all a little nervous.

"Once you graduate, you have to do something with your life... you don't know what you're gonna do. But...you put in all this work, and it's finally paid off. So it's bittersweet."

Watch the video and read the full transcript below

What's it like being a senior?

"I'm ready to get out of here. So it's scary and it's fun. Because it's like, the scary part is, like, once you graduate, you have to do something with your life. And it's kinda like, you don't know what you're gonna do. But then it's like, you're finally, like, getting out of here, you put in all this work, and it's finally paid off. So it's bittersweet.

Hi, I'm Korey Blesby. I'm 18 years old.

I go to MacArthur Senior High School and I'm a senior. I've live in Houston like all my life. It's fun. There's a lot to do. And it's like a lot of people. So it's like you get exposed to a lot of things. I'm in National Technical Honor Society, Black Student Union. And then what I dedicate most of my time to is theater. I'm vice president of theater club. And so we just had to play the Insanity of Mary Girard, and I play Mary Girard, and that was really cool. And what else do I do on campus?

We have to have career plans here. So I just know like, cuz right now I'm taking EMT. I just want to do something in the medical field. But then sometimes I think about politics and then it's just, yeah, it gets confused. But I tell myself medical cause that's what I've been doing since 9th grade.

Well, I'm at first scholarship right now and if all way works in my favor, which I hope it does on Friday, I'll have it, and then I find out whether I go.

My mom, I've always been around my mom, like, she's my backbone. And so when I told her like, hey, I'm up for the scholarship. I'm like, 'They told me that they want me to go to University of Virginia.' She was like, 'Oh, that's so far.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I know.' And she's like, 'What if something happens to you?' And I was like, 'Okay, anything could happen to me, something can happen to me right now.' So I was like, 'Don't think about that.' And she was really nervous about it.

But I wanted to take scholarship, number one, because she wouldn't have to pay as much. And that was a big thing to me. I'm like, 'Mom, they're saying that they're going to pay for my college, meaning it's not going to have to come out of your pocket. And so like, I felt like you can suck it up for four years and like be away from home. And plus, everyone I've talked to who went out of state, they always say like, you need that exposure.'

I really enjoy going, this is a totally different place, like Houston is big but it's a much bigger world. And so I feel like if I went to Virginia, I would be experiencing something different, getting away from Houston. So, maybe I might realize, I don't want to come back home like I'll visit but maybe Texas isn't for me, but I don't want to stay closed in. I want to just try a little bit of something and then if I don't like it, I can always come back home, and if not, I'll branch out for more."

Can you share a challenge you faced and how it shaped you?

"Well, yeah, I feel like the pressure because it's like, how you have to go to college. But it's like you have people who say, no, not necessarily, you can do this and still have a good life. And so like, and then, yeah, it's a lie. And then it's like the pressure on yourself cuz you wanna do good and it's recently like growing up, you're always told, you have to go to college, you have to go to college when you're younger, but then when you're older, you get exposed to like different people.

And it's like, you see people who say, I went to college and then I realized it wasn't for me so I dropped out. And then like, I started doing what they love, and you're like, oh, can I do that? Like, is there a possibility that maybe, what if I don't think college for me, and then you invest all this money into it and then you're like, actually, I'm gonna drop out and then it doesn't work out. So it's a lot of pressure everywhere, but I guess I'll figure it out. But I know I feel like college is like, have to be the answer, like you have to go, I guess. I don't know, I'll figure it out."

What keeps you motivated?

"My mom and my dad, okay... I feel like crying. Okay, so look how happy I get when I talk about them. Okay, my mom, her name is Miss Latoya and she's a wonderful woman. I'm trying to be normal, but I get so excited.

Wait, why am I crying? Okay, but I gotta get it together.

I love them. They're so supportive for me. A cool thing is like my dad, but he's not my biological father. He's actually my stepfather. And so I'm really great for that, kinda step in my life and toasting to step up and take the position of my dad. And then my mom, she's such an amazing woman, she makes me wanna do great things and like more because her background, she's really inspiration cuz if she got to where she was and she didn't have all the things that I have, and seeing how, like she always tells me, I didn't have this when I was a kid. So I always told myself, if I have kids, my kids are gonna have this.

And so I really like that. I love how we, we can keep it real, me and my mom. So I tell her everything. I don't even, and she's like my best friend, but like, I have to have respect for her. I can't say certain things I would say to my best friend. But, yeah, she was really supportive for me and she knows like, I can honestly say she kinda knows me better than I know myself because like, she really knows my strengths and she's like, she tells me what I need to work on.

It's like, okay, we get it. I'm not perfect. But, yeah, they're really great parents. Then my friends also, I have really great friends. And sometimes I saw my friends or my mom on campus and it's like, when you're around such motivated people, and sometimes they also have, they feel they can't do something, and that's when it's your job to step in like, no, you can do it. You told me I can do it, you can do it.

So growing up with them since middle or intermediate, actually, and have all seen us strive to do good, motivate each other when feeling down, that plays the motivation. And then just people in my everyday life, they might not need to make millions of dollars but they're doing something that they love and they're really passionate about it. So it's, you can take a little bit of like what they have, and a little bit of everyone's personality, and their drive and love for what they do, and you can like, okay, I want to get to this point and so that's kind of what I've been doing."

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