Seeing Jay Z and Beyoncé is always exciting.
Being awarded a $100,000 scholarship from America's favorite power coupleat the concert?
That's a whole other level of excitement.
Mikayla Lowry had no idea going into Wednesday's co-headlining Jay-Z and Beyoncé show at State Farm Stadium that she had won a college scholarship from the Shawn Carter Foundation and the BeyGOOD Initiative, which is awarded to one exceptional high school senior with financial needs.
In fact, she didn't even know that she'd been nominated.
All Lowry, a senior at Trevor Browne High School in Arizona, knew going in was that she was one of 19 Boys & Girls Club of Metro Phoenix kids, including 12 Youth of the Year honorees, attending the concert for free.
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DJ Khaled broke the news at the end of his opening set, prefacing the news with, "This is, like, the best part of the night" and calling Lowry "an extraordinary individual making a difference in the world."
He also called her "one of our young geniuses."
Jay-Z and Beyoncé have partnered with Boys & Girls Clubs around the nation to select the winners, awarding more than $1 million in scholarships in 11 cities as the On the Run II Tour makes it way across the country.
Lowry has been a Boys & Girls Club kid for more than 10 years at the Spencer D. & Mary Jane Stewart Branch in Phoenix.
The teen is dual-enrolled at Estrella Mountain Community College in Arizona and will graduate this year with her completed associates degree.
She hopes to pursue a degree in marine biology or forensics at Grand Canyon University or Northern Arizona University, at which point she'll become the first in her family to attend college.
In addition to being an outstanding student with a 3.7 GPA, Lowry has volunteered many hours with BGCMP's Better to Give program, serving in soup kitchens and shelters. She was also the BGCMP's Torch Club president and Keystone vice president.
Lowry's mother relies on the club to care for her three children as she works to make ends meet with two jobs, allowing her to prioritize school and academics for her kids.
The children lost their father following a struggle with alcoholism and lost three grandparents in the past few years, leaving their mother to rely on the Boys & Girls Club for afterschool care.
Lowry has earned excellent marks in high school, but college tuition would likely have been out of reach.
This is the largest scholarship a member of the local Boys & Girls Club has ever earned.
Last year, Beyoncé launched the Formation Scholars Award to help female students afford a college education.
In April, the singer's BeyGood Initiative gave $100,000 to four Historically Black Colleges and Universities students through Beyoncé's Homecoming Scholars Program. She later partnered with Google to give $25,000 scholarships to four more students.
Jay-Z has also established a scholarship fund to help students with tuition and other living expenses.
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