Nick Cannon, a celebrity artist and talk-show host, inspired a Greensboro woman to attend Winston-Salem State University, and paid off her remaining balance of her college debt.Sharandica "Shae" Midcalf is a senior at Winston-Salem State University. To many students, she's known to be very involved on campus, however to others, she is a role model. Not just because of her accomplishments, but what overcame to get there.Midcalf told WXII 12 News on Wednesday that she was homeless during parts of her high school experience. "It made me feel worthless," said Midcalf. "You’re seeing kids who are eating, and you’re sitting there starving. Then the teacher is like you got to do your homework. How are you focusing on homework when you can’t even figure out what you’re going to eat the next day? Where you’re going to lay your head? When you come home, and everyone is just trying to survive."She said her mother left her, people bullied her, and her school-guidance counselor told her she didn't think Midcalf could go to college. However, she didn't give up.Midcalf said her aunt and uncle took her in, and helped support her. She said she slowly got her grades up, and believed she was enough.But what helped grow her confidence even more, she said was when she attended a Wild 'n Out show in Greensboro, North Carolina, and met Nick Cannon in person a few years ago.Cannon told her to have faith, she said, and to chase her dreams, despite what others may say."I felt like a gem, a jewel, somebody who mattered, you got this," Midcalf shared. "It was the extra confidence I needed... I felt seen. Like he (Nick Cannon) sees me. I felt recognized."Midcalf carried that confidence with her. While attending Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina for two years, she took Cannon's advice and applied to Winston-Salem State University, her dream college, she said. She later found out she was accepted into the university.Midcalf said she wrote Nick Cannon a thank you letter to show her gratitude.In return? Cannon's team invited her along with several other students, who attend Historical Black Colleges and Universities around the country, to the Nick Cannon Show last Monday in New York.According to the show's website, the show premiered on Monday, September 27th. The show includes pop culture, music, entertainment, interviews and stories from people across the country. Midcalf said Cannon surprised her and the other students by paying off the remaining balance of their college debt. She said the experience taught her many lessons, including a person's situation does not define them, but rather, it's their choices, and how they respond.A lesson, Midcalf said, she will always remember, and hopes to share with others who may need the extra support.Midcalf told WXII 12 News that she created a new initiative called "Ruby in the Rough" last week, which focuses on helping people who are struggling and need the extra support. She said she wants to help others, just like Nick Cannon helped her."This is bigger than me. I’m not doing this for myself. I have nieces, nephews and cousins, and children who I haven’t met yet, that are going to need someone to build that path for them," she shared. "I want to be known as the person who gave back from the beginning of where God was taking her until the end."