A woman received a total £29,900 ($40k) in scholarship funding from Taco Bell after working there part time during high school.

Crimsyn Price, 22, applied for a Taco Bell funded scholarship for workers, and was awarded £7,470 ($10k) for the first year of her undergraduate degree.

Crimsyn applied for and received the initial scholarship in April 2020 whilst working at the Mexican food chain Taco Bell during her junior year of high school.

She then applied for the scholarship's renewal scheme each year whilst studying Biology and Health Sciences at East Tennessee State University (ETSU).

Crimsyn successfully earned herself a further £7,470 ($10k) for each academic year of her undegrad, helping her to achieve her dream of becoming a doctor.

Crimsyn, a student from Athens, Tennessee, said: "I was so shocked and very thankful to be one of the winners."

"Especially because the $10k bracket is the second highest amount you can receive, I really wasn't expecting it."

"I come from a rural town and a lot of people there don't have the money for college, so I am very grateful for the opportunity."

"It has been such a major help in my ambition to become a doctor, and this will be a massive help on my way."

"It certainly wasn't something I thought was going to happen when I started working at Taco Bell at 16."

Crimsyn worked at Taco Bell and a local cinema part time during her last two years of high school to help her mother with household bills.

Her supervisor told her about the Live Más scholarship, which had been founded only a few years prior in 2018, and encouraged her to apply.

Crimsyn was pleased to find that all the application required was her academic records and a two minute video explaining how the funds would help.

She said: "Most other scholarship applications I had seen at that point required a lot more work and time than the Live Más scholarship."

"I think I ended up doing about 50 takes of the video before just deciding to go for it."

"It only took a few months to hear about the result, at which point my supervisor's boss, the general area manager, came to our store specially to announce it."

"It felt like a really special moment."

Crimsyn was accepted into the Honors Scholars Program at ETSU as part of her admission offer in 2021, meaning she received further funding from the college.

Crimsyn learnt she could apply her Live Más scholarship after the Honors College funding for each semester, which would create surplus funds from Taco Bell.

She discovered that this money would be directly deposited into her bank account, in essence paying her for going to college.

So, of the £7,470 ($10k) funding for each year, Crimsyn only used £4,500 ($6k) on her tuition and received £1,500 ($2k) each semester for her own spending.

Crimsyn said: "I was amazed when I discovered this."

"It was like a super cool loophole in the system."

"I wish I could say I did something really exciting with the money, but I really just used it to buy school books and supplies."

"College costs more than just the tuition, so I used the extra funds to provide all the other essentials I may have had to go without otherwise."

"It also facilitated me being able to do unpaid internships during my degree and prioritise my education over a part time job."

Crimsyn partook in multiple internships whilst studying at ETSU, most of which were part of her Honors Program with Quillen School of Medicine.

She interned at the anatomy lab, ensuring the integrity of cadavers used to educate students was well-maintained.

Crimsyn also partook in an international excursion to Quito, Ecuador, where she assisted doctors and graduate students in providing medical care to people.

She said: "It was such a dream to have these experiences."

"Both were of course hard work, but they reminded me why I wanted to be a doctor."

"Especially in Ecuador, even though we were only there for a week!"

"Our team was able to assist 400-500 patients in that time from rural villages near Quito."

"I may have just been running medical supplies and taking notes, but the experience was unforgettable."

"And none of it would have been possible without the Live Más scholarship."

Crimsyn now plans to re-sit her MCATs after her first result prevented her from admission into her ideal medical school.

She is determined to continue on her path to become a doctor, focusing on the importance of communication accessibility for the deaf in local clinics.