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Dear Gov. Edwards, Sen. Morrish, and Rep. Landry,

My name is Imani Hardy and I am currently a freshman at the prestigious Xavier University of Louisiana. I attended G.W. Carver Collegiate Academy last year, where I graduated as Salutatorian for the class of 2016. I am one of five children. I have a sister that will be attending college this fall.

TOPS has impacted my life in a very positive way. If I didn’t have TOPS, I would have a GAP cost with a balance of almost $3,000. Because of TOPS the balance that I had on my account at Xavier was fully paid for, which helped my family tremendously. However, because TOPS was de-funded for the Spring 2017 semester, I had a balance on my account. I know that there are many people who are in the same situation that I am in, and I feel that TOPS has been very beneficial to us. I also feel that, because TOPS was created for young people like myself to have the proper resources to follow their dreams, pursue their careers and have successful lives such as you do, it should be fully reinstated.

I have come here today humbly, to ask that you all either fully restore the TOPS scholarship or at least make it a priority for families that are lower-income. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to listen to our concerns.

Imani Hardy

Freshman, Xavier University of Louisiana

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