Great news, America: The suburban Atlanta high school senior who landed in hot H2O over a clever periodic table code in her yearbook quote has now received a $2,500 scholarship and an internship because of the stunt.
Things looked pretty grim for Mundy’s Mill High School student Paris Gray around this time last week after school officials managed to crack her inspiring quote:
“When the going gets tough just remember to Barium, Carbon, Potassium, Thorium, Astatine, Arsenic, Sulfur, Uranium, Phosphorus.”
A cursory look at the periodic table reveals that the letter symbols for those nine elements spell out: “Back That Ass Up.”
Infuriated school officials sentenced Gray, the class vice president, to an in-school suspension and banned her from participating in last Friday’s senior walk. Before cooler heads prevailed, they had also threatened to cancel her speech at her graduation ceremony. (RELATED: Daily Caller Patriot: High Schooler Suspended For ‘Back That A$$ Up’ Periodic Table Yearbook Stunt)
“It just completely destroyed me, and my mom’s been telling me don’t let it ruin my happiness but it’s like, really taking a big toll,” the senior told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB-TV.
Turns out Gray’s mother, Zarinah Woods, was right in that special way that mothers so often tend to be.
Elite Island Resorts, a travel marketing company, announced this week that is has awarded Gray with a $2,500 scholarship and a travel industry-related internship.
Part of the internship, apparently, will be creating a brainteaser, “Paris’s Puzzle,” for people to solve.
“Paris is smart and creative, and we are pleased to help her channel that creativity towards future success,” the company’s CEO, Larry Basham, said in a press release obtained by The Daily Caller.
Gray plans to attend Tennessee State University in Nashville this fall.
Gray probably got the inspiration for her yearbook stunt from the song “Back That Azz Up” by Juvenile (real name: Terius Gray), a rapper who was once a member of a hip-hop group called the Hot Boys. The 1999 song is one of Juvenile’s biggest hits to date.
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