Help Emily Boyd Achieve Her College Dreams

This week I had the honor of accompanying Emily Addison Boyd to her freshman orientation at Mississippi State University! I met Emily 3 years ago when I married her step-grandfather, John Bretherick. Emily is 18 and has been nothing short of amazing and resilient!

Emily graduated in May 2025 from East Lawrence High School with a 3.93 GPA that included dual enrollment college classes.

Emily has maintained her academic excellence through 4 years of heartbreak! In 2021, Emily’s paternal grandmother, Pattie Bretherick, died of renal cancer. In 2022, Emily’s mom, Jennifer Whitman, died suddenly of heart failure. In June 2024, Emily’s dad, Landon Boyd, died in the Veterans Hospital from end-stage liver failure.

Emily was raised by her great aunt and uncle, Elden & Sandra Shelton. Emily is loved by so many people, but at the end of the day, she is an orphan. This is important to note because no one can apply for a Federal Parental Plus loan to help pay for her education.

When we were at MS State, we found out that Emily’s $8,000 per semester academic scholarship is not enough to cover her first semester of college expenses. Even with $6,500 of Pell grants and federal student loans, Emily is still $5,900 short to cover her fall semester tuition, books, fees, housing, and meal plan at MS State.

Emily chose MS State because they have an amazing Biochemistry with Forensic focus program. Emily fell in love with forensic science at a young age and wants to serve in the criminal justice system to help people during the worst moments of their lives.

MS State offered Emily the highest scholarship of $60k over 4 years. Emily’s courage to reach and work for this dream was strengthened by the fact that 5 of her friends that have grown up together since kindergarten are going to the same university! This friend group has been through so many heartbreaks together that they are truly family!

Emily has an amazing work ethic and has been employed part-time for the last 2 1/2 years. Martin’s Family Clothing has an amazing program for college students where they save their position, and when Emily comes home for school breaks, she will work days at Martin’s to make extra money.

We were able to make connections at MS State and Emily will attend a job fair on August 22nd to get a part-time job. Emily is taking 15 semester hours of class for the fall semester. As a freshman, she needs time to move in on August 14-15th, start class on August 20th, attend the job fair on August 22nd, and get herself a routine established at the university.

Emily is determined to work hard every day to reach her dreams! I have no doubt that Emily will do the hard work to succeed.

If money was endless, I would gladly sponsor her entire education. Sadly, my heart and my finances are not equals. That is why I am reaching out to my Facebook friends & family to ask for help getting Emily established this first semester.

Please help me bless Emily by giving toward her first semester at Mississippi State University.

If you know of any local resources to help pay for her education like grants, scholarships, or would like to give a monthly donation, please contact me.

We will set up a college checking account for Emily at PNC Bank the week after the 4th of July.

Emily’s first payment to MS State is August 1st! She needs roughly $1,200. Each month August through December will have a similar payment due!

PLEASE HELP EMILY!

So many teenagers use any excuse to not do the work! Emily could easily have declared desperation, failure, and dysfunctional grief due to the devastating 4 years that she experienced in high school! She used her grief as fuel to succeed!

Thank you all in advance!

Any money donated will be routed to the college account. If you prefer giving another way, please contact me!

May Jesus bless you and your family for caring for “the least of these”! It truly takes a village!

To ensure that Emily receives all contributions, this will be the only request for financial help. If you would like to donate cash please post in comments or private massage who you gave the money to and how much. I want to make sure that I am completely transparent with this fundraiser!

Thank you for investing in Emily’s Future!