Last week, Baylor sophomore Lauren Briseño attended a gathering with her fellow volleyball players at their coach’s house to watch bracket selection for the upcoming NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship. The gathering also included a white elephant gift exchange where everyone brings a gift and they get traded around.
In a video posted to social media, Briseño is seen unwrapping a couple of gifts. At the last second an assistant coach takes away her last gift of a blanket leaving just one gift for her to take. At first it appeared her gift was a poster of the volleyball team. Then Briseño gets a yellow proclamation that she’s asked to read out loud. The paper states that Briseño is getting a full scholarship for the fall, spring and summer semesters. She breaks down in tears and the whole room erupts in applause.
The volleyball program has a limited number of scholarships and Briseño has become one of the team’s most valuable players after walking on as a freshman last year. Tuition at Baylor can run higher than $50-thousand a year for their undergraduate program and Briseño later said she was still “speechless” over the surprise. "I truly was just left with so much joy," she says. "I'm so grateful to be here, playing with this team, playing with these coaches … eternally grateful for what I have."
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