Current:Home > BackTeen who walked six miles to 8th grade graduation gets college scholarship on the spot-LoTradeCoin
Teen who walked six miles to 8th grade graduation gets college scholarship on the spot
View Date:2024-12-23 23:09:44
Though Xavier Jones, just 14, was a stranger to LaTonia Collins Smith, something clicked when they met.
"That kid, that day, it was just something that resonated with my spirit," Collins Smith said.
Jones had started that day on a mission. His grandfather's car wasn't working, and he had somewhere to be. So he started walking the six-mile route, which took over two hours and wound through tough neighborhoods and busy traffic, all under the blazing sun. At some point he was so thirsty, he asked strangers for a dollar just to buy something to drink. He thought about turning back, but always pressed on.
The goal? Walk another 30 feet across a stage and collect his eighth grade diploma in a ceremony held at Harris-Stowe State University, a historically Black university in St. Louis, Missouri —and where Collins Smith is the president.
"If you like really want to get something, then you have to work hard for it," Jones said.
Collins Smith was in the auditorium that day, and she was inspired by Jones' efforts.
"He wanted to be present," she said. "(That) speaks volumes ... Half the battle is showing up."
Collins Smith awarded a scholarship to Jones on the spot. The four-year full-ride scholarship would cover all of his tuition at the school, an exciting prospect for any student, but he thought it meant something else.
"He thought that full-ride meant he would get a ride to college, like he wouldn't have to walk here again," Collins Smith laughed.
Fortunately, Jones still has four years of high school to process that offer. Until then, he plans to keep up his already-excellent grades and keep stoking that fire in his belly. He has also been given a bike and his family was given a new vehicle courtesy of local businesses, so he won't have to walk that long route again.
"It basically comes from who I am and the kind of person I want to be," he said.
That kind of person is the exact type Collins Smith wants in her school.
"You know, often times in colleges we spend a lot of time on standardized test scores because that's who you are. It's not true," she said.
Instead, she prefers to find students like Jones: The ones who are better measured by how far they've come.
- In:
- Missouri
Steve Hartman has been a CBS News correspondent since 1998, having served as a part-time correspondent for the previous two years.
veryGood! (25)
Related
- Disney x Lululemon Limited-Edition Collection: Shop Before It Sells Out
- Advocates launch desperate effort to save Oklahoma man from execution in 1992 murder
- Can a shark swim up a river? Yes, and it happens more than you may think
- SpaceX launches Turkey's first domestically-built communications satellite
- Will Mike Tyson vs. Jake Paul end in KO? Boxers handle question differently
- Joe Tessitore to join WWE as play-by-play voice, team with Corey Graves, Wade Barrett
- Violent holiday weekend sees mass shootings in Michigan, Illinois and Kentucky
- RNC committee approves Trump-influenced 2024 GOP platform with softened abortion language
- Question of a lifetime: Families prepare to confront 9/11 masterminds
- Massive dinosaur skeleton from Wyoming on display in Denmark – after briefly being lost in transit
Ranking
- What does the top five look like and other questions facing the College Football Playoff committee
- Target stores will no longer accept personal checks for payments starting July 15
- Giada De Laurentiis Reunites With Ex Todd Thompson to Support Daughter Jade
- NYU settles lawsuit filed by 3 Jewish students who complained of pervasive antisemitism
- Jessica Simpson's Husband Eric Johnson Steps Out Ringless Amid Split Speculation
- 'Bob's Burgers' actor Jay Johnston pleads guilty in Capitol riot case: Reports
- Some power restored in Houston after Hurricane Beryl, while storm spawns tornadoes as it moves east
- Rent inflation remains a pressure point for small businesses
Recommendation
-
Pentagon secrets leaker Jack Teixeira set to be sentenced, could get up to 17 years in prison
-
Dan Hurley contract details as UConn coach signs new six-year, $50 million contract
-
The Daily Money: Temp jobs in jeopardy
-
Topical gel is latest in decades-long quest for hormonal male birth control
-
Charles Hanover: Caution, Bitcoin May Be Entering a Downward Trend!
-
Novak Djokovic blasts 'disrespect' from fans during latest Wimbledon victory
-
Meagan Good Reveals Silver Lining in DeVon Franklin Divorce
-
Jimmy Kimmel shares positive update on son Billy, 7, following third open-heart surgery