Who says hard work doesn't pay? This is my favorite story of the day. A 17-year-old kid in Jersey City, New Jersey just got accepted to 17 different colleges. This is a big deal because he's been homeless for the majority of his life. His name is Dylan Chidick and he came to the U.S. from Trinidad with his mom when he was seven. He's a U.S. citizen now.
His family has been homeless off and on since he was young but he still managed to make it into the National Honor Society. He's also president of his class and says his mom's courage is what inspires him to work so hard. He says he knows how hard life can be and that's why he's determined to lift his family up and never let them get back to a place where they have to struggle so much.
“My family went through a lot and there has been a lot of people saying, ‘you can’t do that,’ or ‘you’re not going to achieve this,’ and me – getting these acceptances – kind of verifies what I have been saying. I can do it and I will do it,” the teen explained.
He's been accepted to 17 schools so far, including a few big ones like Xavier. But he's still waiting to hear back from The College of New Jersey, near Trenton. That's his top choice, partly because it's close to his mom.
This kid is amazing and his future is bright!
[CBS]