By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The area surrounding Sacramento’s Grant Union High School could not be further from the hallowed halls of the Ivy League, but local student Crystalkaye Farrington envisions herself there nonetheless.

Grant Union High School senior Crystalkaye Farrington was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from Nordstrom. Photo (c) Observer / Larry V. Dalton

The Grant High senior’s dreams recently got a major boost, as she was awarded a $10,000 scholarship from Nordstrom. She can use the scholarship, which also includes a laptop computer and all the works, at the four-year university of her choice.

First on Farrington’s higher education wish list is Harvard. She wants to pursue a career with the Sacramento Police Department and then the Federal Bureau of Investigations.

“(I know) things change, but that’s my plan,” Farrington shared.

Farrington is a student in Grant High’s Criminal Justice Magnet Academy, which introduces youth to the inner workings of law enforcement and criminal justice processes, with the goal of promoting continued academic success, developing marketable career skills and improving the community.

She and her classmates were encouraged to apply by the academy’s former director and champion, Officer Shaunda Davis. Farrington was one of the few who listened to the advice.

“Shaunda Davis, I really have to thank her,” she said.

The Nordstrom scholarships are based on academic achievement, community service, school involvement and financial need.

This year’s winners were the featured guests at a ceremony in San Francisco recently. Three out of the five 2008 recipients are African American.

Farrington is the first from Sacramento to land the prestigious scholarship. As such, she was whisked from her area home to the Bay Area in a limousine.

“Nordstrom really does it up,” said grandmother Mattie Brown.

Farrington, who had all but given up hope of winning, was surprised by Nordstrom and a local radio station, at school with the good news.

Brown, with whom Farrington lives, said she deserves a world of good after getting a rocky start in life.

Brown says her granddaughter was abused and abandoned by her mother.

“I’m proud of her; she’s been through a lot,” Brown said.

The beaming grandmother has always stressed the importance of higher education to her granddaughter.

“When I was coming up, if you finished high school, you did well. A high school education isn’t enough these days,” she shared.

Brown’s five children all went to college. She has two other grandchildren there now.

Farrington says that she recalls campus visits with Brown to drop off care packages to her various college-attending children. Perhaps that’s where the seed was sown for the Grant senior.

As for her quest toward Harvard, Farrington has already had an interview and is waiting to see if she’ll be seeing crimson come fall.

“The school just sounds amazing,” she said. "That it’s a good distance away from home doesn’t hurt either. I’m as nervous as a ball of nerves can be.”

Farrington has also been accepted to Sacramento State University and the historically Black college Clark Atlanta College. She can also attend UC Davis if she chooses.

Through an eligibility in the Local Context Program, the top four percent of students at participating California high schools each year are guaranteed admission to certain schools within the University of California system.

The guarantee is extended to students in the top 12.5 percent of their class if they complete introductory classes at a community college.

Farrington, who says she’s remained in the top 10 percent area throughout high school, is taking a class at American River College.

The highly elated student says that she will graduate in June 2008.