Dolores High School senior Cameron Elder has been awarded the Colorado Boettcher Scholarship, which provides a full scholarship to any in-state school.

Elder, a Dolores student since kindergarten and a key player on the high school volleyball team, found out last week.

“I found out last Thursday,” Elder said Tuesday. “We got this huge envelope, and we all sat down and prayed about it, and I opened it up and as soon as I saw the word ‘Congratulations,’ I started crying.”

Elder sent a letter of acceptance to the Boettcher program. She is one of 42 students selected for the scholarship.

She plans to attend Colorado College or the University of Denver but hasn’t decided what she wants to study. She must pick a university by May 1.

She learned that she was a finalist in February.

Elder is the second Dolores student to be awarded the scholarship, according to the Boettcher Foundation.

Cameron has known about the program since her older sister, Taylor, applied. Taylor graduates from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix in April.

Cameron’s mother, Brooke, said Cameron has been thinking about the Boettcher scholarship since around seventh grade, and that the thought and planning process helped motivate and focus her efforts through the years.

Cameron is the daughter of Scot and Brooke Elder of Dolores. She and her sister Jordan, a sophomore, played for the Dolores Bears volleyball team, which won 22 of its 26 matches and advanced to the state tournament last fall.