When it comes time to apply for colleges, a lot of students get nervous. Even those who get good grades and have a lot of extracurricular activities wonder if they will get into a good college.
Many students have one or two colleges that are their top picks, but they also have a long list of others that they are willing to consider if they aren’t accepted by their favorites.
Few students are accepted into their first-choice colleges, and even fewer are offered scholarships, especially full-ride scholarships. Imagine how hard it would be to get accepted to 20 different colleges and be offered full-ride scholarships to all of them.
That’s what happened to Michael Brown.
He has been passionate about going to college since he was a young boy, so he put a lot of effort into making sure he had everything he needed to create an impressive college application.
All his hard work paid off, and when he applied to his 20 favorite colleges, he was shocked to find that he was accepted to all of them. Not only that, but all 20 colleges offered him full-ride scholarships. Several of them are even Ivy League schools.
He talked about his achievements, saying:
“It’s something I’m proud of because I see my hard work paying off, determination paying off, sacrifices paying off.
He said that his family expected that he would have a lot of scholarships thrown his way and could probably get into any college he wanted.
He thinks they may have been a little biased, but he is glad that he could make them proud. He added:
“My family had high expectations and maybe didn’t realize how competitive the process is.”
Brown is pretty modest about everything that led up to his acceptance letters arriving in the mail.
It hasn’t been easy for him, and he has put a lot of time and effort into his school work. He has a 4.68-grade point average and participates in the Key Club, Lamar’s Varsity Debate Team, Young Democrats, 100 Black Men of Houston, and HISD’s Emerge program. He has also helped with many political campaigns. He explained his interest in politics:
“Politics is the route for making changes on a bigger scale and working with people in the community.”
Brown said that his mother was his biggest motivation to do well in college. He said;
“When I was in elementary school, I saw my mom graduate from community college, and that just meant a lot to me.”
His mom says that he has always been very smart and interested in education.
He started planning for college at a young age, and he always had the support of his family. She explained:
“After sixth grade, Mike was in control of his education. He was focused, he knew what he wanted, and he made his own decisions. Michael is my rainbow baby. I lost three babies before I had Michael. So, I just wanted to be the best mother that I could be to him. I wanted to make sure that he had stability.”
Michael wants everyone to know that he isn’t the only one who has accomplished something amazing. He has a lot of friends who have had similar college offers. He said:
“For me, it’s important to highlight that I’m not the only student of color who is achieving.”
He hopes that his story will prove to other students that they can also reach their goals and dreams of attending good colleges, as long as they work hard and are aware of their options.
He said:
“I want people to be informed and get access to these same programs.”
Michael still hasn’t decided which college he will attend. He has to decide by May 21. Luckily, he has a lot of friends and family members who will support him no matter where he chooses to study.
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MUST SEE VIDEO! This is what it looks like when a hard working, 3rd Ward student gets accepted to his dream college. BTW… he was accepted to 20! Including 4 #IvyLeagues. Story coming up @ 10 on #KHOU11 #DREAMS #Houston #Harvard #Princeton #Yale #FeelGood pic.twitter.com/Lz5kY3G1CO
— Lauren Talarico (@KHOULauren) March 30, 2018
