Black Teen Accepted into Over 21 Universities With More Than $1.3 Million in Scholarship Awards

NATIONWIDE — 17-year-old Omarion Ikaika Calloway, a senior at Park Crossing High School in Montgomery, Alabama, has been accepted into over 21 universities, including New York University, Howard University, and Hampton University, and has received more than $1.3 million in scholarships. His mother, Tiffany, comments, “I’m a happy and grateful mother, and I am immensely proud of him.”

Omarion will be a first-generation college student who has had a difficult upbringing. He became a caregiver for his grandmother and disabled autistic uncle when he was just 10 years old. While his mother worked two jobs, he seized the reins of leadership and cared for them until she would arrive home. He was responsible for a variety of tasks including meal preparation, medicine administration, and ensuring that his uncle received his daily insulin injections to manage his diabetes. When his grandmother died, though, he suffered a huge setback because she inspired him to apply to his dream school, New York University, at a young age.

After her death, he made it his purpose to get into his dream school. However, his uncle died before the start of his senior year which means that he lost two people he grew up caring for over the period of eight years. Even though he was in immense pain in his heart, Omarion remained focused and excelled in school.

On December 15, 2021, he finally received the news that he had been admitted into his dream school, New York University, and said that a big weight was lifted from his shoulders.

Tiffany comments, “As his mother, I remain so proud of him that tears well up in my eyes just thinking about him being accepted into his dream school. All a mother wants is for her child to have the best life possible.”