Monico is originally from Ghana and came to the US at age 3 as a refugee. She was awarded the MAPS Scholarship in Spring 2022, while she was studying to complete her Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.

After receiving the award, Monico voiced that "being a MAPS Scholarship recipient means that there are people that are helping empower my academic goals and investing in my future. Because of this, I will continue to strive to achieve my goals and obtain accomplishments that the MAPS team can take pride in."