Ellen Degeneres is known for featuring inspiring guests, so it’s no surprise that she tapped Akintunde Ahmad, the 17-year-old Oakland high schooler who made headlines for his a 5.0 GPA and 2100 SAT score, to appear on her show. The teen sat down with Ellen to talk about how he managed to stay focused in school, why he’s the smartest son in his family (according to his parents who were sitting in the front row) and which school he eventually chose out of the many that sent him acceptance letters in the mail. Ellen then surprised him with a $15,000 check to cover a few of those heavy Ivy League expenses!
In case you forgot, Akintunde was accepted into what many of us consider “dream schools” – Yale, Brown, Columbia, Northwestern, the University of Southern California, UCLA, Howard and Chapman (and these were the only ones reported). Akintunde and many Black boys like him — including high schoolers Avery Coffey, Kwasi Enin, and Patrick Peoples who also made headlines for their stellar academic achievements – have reminded the nation that there are always Black boys who’ll put in the work and make their parents proud, in spite of their environment. #TeamBeautiful will continue to spotlight these stories, no matter what the critics say, and we’ll be encouraging them along the way!
Check out the video of Ellen giving a generous gift below and see which school Akintunde decided to attend in the fall.
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