When 20-year-old Providence native Keily Avila opened her email and saw the acceptance letter from Brown University, she reacted as most would.

"I immediately started screaming and crying," said Avila, who graduated from CCRI this spring. "My mom and my two sisters and I were waiting for the results, and the second I saw the words, 'Congratulations,' it became such an emotional moment for all of us. It felt surreal, and I won’t ever forget that feeling."

Getting accepted into one of the top universities in the country is a massive achievement. But for Avila, the moment was also validation for a path that began with a lot of uncertainty. Facing the end of high school, she had seriously considered taking a gap year, unsure of her next educational steps and wary of taking on student debt.

The deciding factor to keep moving forward was the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship, which provides two years of free tuition for eligible Rhode Islanders attending CCRI straight out of high school. It provided Avila with an opportunity to map out her future.

"I truly don’t think I would have gotten into Brown without CCRI and the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship program," Avila said. "Being able to go to college right out of high school without paying anything out of pocket gave me the chance to fully focus on my classes, my grades, and my transfer applications without financial stress."

Beyond the financial relief, the Promise program afforded her the time and bandwidth to get involved on campus. The initially shy incoming freshman eventually became a CCRI student ambassador and, for the 2025-26 academic year, the Student Government President.

"CCRI has prepared me in so many ways, not just academically, but personally too," Avila said. "When I first came to CCRI after high school, I was shy and honestly very insecure about my abilities and the work I had done. But through my classes, my role as a student ambassador, my involvement in student government, and the many opportunities I was given at CCRI, I gained confidence in myself and grew in ways I never expected."

That confidence helped her articulate her story during the transfer application process, allowing her clearly to make the case for why she belonged in the Ivy League. Now, she is heading to Brown to study Computer Science, backed by a Scholarship that will cover the majority of her yearly tuition.

As she transitions to Brown's Providence campus, Avila brings with her a broadened perspective on her future career. While her initial goal at CCRI was to become a web developer, recent internships — working in IT for the Rhode Island state government and serving as a backend programmer on an underwater camera project for URI's Graduate School of Oceanography — opened her eyes to new avenues in the tech industry.

"Having those two experiences showed me just how many different paths computer science can open up, which has made me even more excited about my major," she said. "At Brown, I’m really looking forward to exploring all of those possibilities. With the open curriculum, I’ll be able to try different classes, discover new interests, and get a better idea of where I want my career to lead."

She also fully intends to stay involved in student leadership, pointing to her time in CCRI’s student government as a crash course in communication and genuine representation. She hopes to bring that same energy to Brown to connect with her new peers and make a tangible impact on the campus community.

Looking back at the doubts she had as a high school senior, Avila views her impending start at Brown as a testament to the transformative power of the Rhode Island Promise. She hopes current high school students recognize the financial value of the program and the doors of opportunity it can open for their future.

"I would tell them to take advantage of it because being able to attend college right after high school for free is such an incredible opportunity," Avila said. "CCRI gives students the chance to grow academically and personally, explore their interests, and build a strong foundation for whatever path they choose next."