Georgia State freshman with sickle cell earns $25K scholarship, begins path toward becoming a doctor

A 17-year-old DeKalb County graduate who has spent years navigating sickle cell disease is beginning college with a $25,000 scholarship and a goal of becoming the kind of doctor who helped care for her.

Charlaye Dennis, a graduate of Miller Grove High School, is starting at Georgia State University, where she plans to study biology on a pre-med track. Dennis is a first-generation college student and enters college with 16 credits she earned through dual enrollment.

Her goal is to become a hematologist-oncologist, a physician who specializes in blood disorders and cancers.

"I've experienced blood disorders firsthand, and I know how important compassionate doctors are to the medical field and to patients that live with these chronic illnesses," Dennis said.

Living with sickle cell disease has sometimes interrupted Dennis' education and other parts of her life.

"One day I'm good, like I'm ready for the event, and then here comes the event, I'm in the hospital," Dennis said.

Despite missing days of school, Dennis graduated with college credits already behind her.

She is also one of 15 students nationwide selected for a $25,000 Panda Cares Great Futures Scholarship through Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Panda Restaurant group, the company behind Panda Express.

Dennis said the application process included essays, recommendations and a video detailing her experiences and leadership journey.

"Living with a chronic illness taught me that literally no one succeeds alone," Dennis said in her scholarship video. "I've had doctors, club staff and mentors who have literally been there to support me when I needed it."

Dennis has been involved with the Boys & Girls Club since she was 6 years old. She described the organization as a sanctuary where she first began seeing herself as a leader.

Ambernique Howard, who has known Dennis since middle school, said she has watched Dennis push forward even during some of her most difficult moments.

"I've seen her, health-wise, be physically at her lowest," Howard said. "She always knew what was next. She always knew what her end goal was."

Dennis is also an entrepreneur.

In 2024, she started Fruit Geeks, a business inspired by what she said was a lack of access to fresh, healthy food in her community.

Dennis said growing up with sickle cell made her particularly conscious of the relationship between food and her health.

"I always had to be very picky with what I eat because I didn't want to eat the wrong thing that would send me to the hospital or send me to a crisis," Dennis said.

Dennis said she hopes to expand Fruit Geeks to Georgia State while continuing her education.

For Dennis, the scholarship helps remove some of the financial pressure standing between her and a career that once seemed difficult to reach.

After years of being the patient, Dennis is now beginning the education she hopes will eventually allow her to become the doctor.