Sophia Whittingham – University of Nevada, Las Vegas Project F.O.C.U.S. (Troy Drake Scholarship Award)

Sophia is this year’s recipient of the Ruby’s Rainbow Troy Drake Scholarship Award. After attending community college for her first three years of post-secondary education and then her first year in the Project F.O.C.U.S. program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, this fall she will begin her second year at UNLV. She is active in Best Buddies and loves to hang out with friends she’s made in that group. She also loves writing and dancing, along with fashion, music and movies. She aspires to be a writer, and hopes someday to publish a book about a girl with Down syndrome that will inspire readers with disabilities not to limit themselves.

Sophia enjoys participating in fundraisers and volunteering at her local food pantry as well as her local Down syndrome association and Best Buddies chapter. She likes showing people in her community that she both has a disability and is also a capable, contributing community member. She says, “I have Down syndrome but it will never define me.”

We think you rock, Sophia! We believe in you!