A teenager was able to graduate with top honors and earn more than $3 million in college scholarships—while being homeless.
Tupac Mosley, 17, from Raleigh Egypt High School in Memphis, Tennessee, received more than 50 scholarships before he graduated in May, local station WHBQ reported.
He said he was accepted into more than 40 colleges, and he’s chosen Tennessee State University, where he hopes to major in electrical engineering, according to WHBQ.
Mosley told the news outlet that he had aimed to garner about $1 million in scholarships.
The news station reported that Mosley had become homeless during his senior year.
“After my father passed, we fell behind on bills and we ended up getting evicted from our home February 21 of this year,” he said.
The family stayed at “For the Kingdom,” a camping site and nonprofit that helps children who are undergoing hard times.
“We were blessed to have For the Kingdom,” he said, adding that college may have not been an option if it weren’t for their support.
“When I heard that I got $3 million, I was more than elated and excited and astonished that it was that much,” he told WHBQ.
He managed to maintain a GPA of 4.3 his last year of high school. He said the hardest challenge was time management.
“I knew that I had to make them proud. I knew that their investment was worth it that and just show them that yes, everything that you poured into me was worth $3 million and counting,” Mosley told WHBQ.
“Never let your current situation, whatever circumstances you’re going through, be a mountain that you can’t climb.”
In his speech at graduation on May 19, he expressed gratitude to his teachers for believing in him.
Mosley also shared touching words on the struggles he and others like him have faced.
“Many of us on stage have lost one [a family member] already, including myself. I lost my father my sophomore year,” he said. “But obviously it did not act as a complete deterrent to any of us, because we are still here today, on stage, graduating.”
In his speech, Mosley encouraged his classmates to keep working hard.
“We are the kings and queens of Memphis. We have not had our throne taken away from us. No matter what we go through, we are still going to come out on top.”
“In the future, I would love to see all of my classmates be successful because I know they will,” he said. “We will never give up.”
“We have to do our best to make sure that we are going to be the best people in Memphis,” Mosley added.
Teen Mom Graduates With More Than $1 Million in Scholarships
In another graduation feat, a teenage mother, also from Memphis, Tennessee, recently graduated with more than $1 million in scholarships and also as valedictorian.Harris said that there were times she barely managed to walk after having her son, but a teacher at the school helped her stay focused on her goals.
Congratulatory messages flooded in on a Facebook post from the school that announced Harris’s success.
