CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — With the school year coming to a close and graduation right around the corner, two seniors at St. Anne’s-Belfield School have earned two of the nation’s most competitive scholarships.

Alaja Gough, a first-generation college student, was named a QuestBridge Match Scholar, earning a full four-year scholarship to Washington University in St. Louis.

Henry Dozier was just one of 150 students out of more than 7,000 applicants nationwide to be named a Coca-Cola Scholar this year, earning $20,000. He will be attending Yale University this fall.

Dozier and Gough were far from the only STAB seniors win earn major scholarships this year, as Nori Carter also won the Emily Couric Leadership Scholarship.

STAB Head of School Dr. Autumn Graves told Cville Right Now what makes the class of 2026 unique is they have benefited from some of the school’s enhanced programming that has been put in place over the last couple of years, giving students “that opportunity to structure their energy, their excitement, their productivity in ways that can really help an external audience best understand just how phenomenal they are.”

However, Graves made it clear that this year’s seniors did “so much themselves,” rightfully earning the recognition.

“We set the conditions, and then they have had the wherewithal, the resilience of the drive, the determination to really move it forward,” she said, “and I think that speaks a lot to the Class of 2026.”

Graves said in her focus groups with the outgoing seniors, they’ve described their class as determined and driven, striving to be the best versions of themselves they can be. That determination is evident in Gough and Dozier.

Gough was first told about the QuestBridge program by her college counselor at STAB. She was initially hesitant but, with the help of her counselor, ultimately decided to undertake the long application process.

“I had a lot of support around me,” she told Cville Right Now, “and a lot of encouraging teachers and peers along the process, and my family.”

Now, Gough will head to St. Louis as the first one in her family to attend college.

“I really just wanted to break the cycle of community college or just not going to college in general,” she said. “And my family is a family full of women, so just having this experience as a woman in 2026 and going to this really good, Top 20 school and being a QuestBridge Match Scholar. It’s just a really cool and good opportunity. I am just so excited.”

Like with Gough and her goal of being a 1st generation student, Dozier said he’s always wanted to attend an Ivy League, calling it “the dream.” He said his teachers were always there to support him along the way, providing him with opportunities like AP classes, civic engagement opportunities and even two independent research studies.

Dozier said being selected as a Coca-Cola Scholar has been “pretty remarkable,” and has given him the opportunity to meet other young people from across the country who share his interest in service.

Overall, Dozier, who has attended STAB since the age of 4, said the biggest lesson the school has taught him is to always “take the step to get more involved. Do the action that needs to be done to really bring change.

“I feel like the school has really prepared me to be an active member of my community and of my world through just being active,” he said, “and being willing to go beyond just ideas go for action.”

As both Gough and Dozier prepare for the next stage of their education and lives, Graves said the school and its faculty are proud of them for taking it upon themselves to “take advantage of the opportunities that were here and then create some new opportunities for themselves.”

She said that is a sign that the school has not only cultivate their curiosity and creativity, but that they are people who have the potential to lead “in pretty extraordinary ways in their next community.”

“I love that becomes a part of the school’s legacy,” she said, “that we put in each student that they’re going to be a person of positive impact in whichever community they serve.”