Aaron Williams, an 18-year-old African American teen from Chicago, Illinois, earned over $8 million in scholarships and received more than 80 college acceptance letters after graduating as valedictorian from Bogan High School.
Williams has been accepted into 83 colleges so far, and new letters still arrive daily. The scholarship offers, a mix of merit-based awards and school grants totaling more than $8 million, reflect years of hard work and determination.
“To know that actually hours of me applying for these scholarships and having to log on my school links and just putting in effort and having a community to support me and guide me through this whole process, it’s kind of relieving to know that it actually paid off in the long run,” Williams told WLBT.
He maintained straight A’s throughout high school and set a clear goal early on. On his first day as a freshman, he told the principal he would graduate at the top of his class. Four years later, he did just that.
As the youngest of seven children, Williams also aimed to beat his older sibling’s scholarship total of $1 million. That sibling rivalry motivated him to push even harder.
“It kind of pushed me harder, because you know how siblings have that sibling rivalry to see who can do better and stuff like that? It kind of motivated me in a way to see how far I can go with it,” Williams said.
In the fall, Williams will attend Northern Illinois University on a full scholarship. He plans to study electrical engineering and aims to graduate as valedictorian once again.
His mother, Ericka Smith, also credits his success to the people around him. She said, “He is who he is because of community, because of principals who cared, because of those biological aunts that cared, the non-biological ones.”
SOURCE: blacknews.com