A St. Louis, Missouri, teen, who walked almost three hours to his middle school graduation ceremony, has been awarded a full scholarship to Harris-Stowe State University.
The president of the 166-year-old institution said the young man’s perseverance impressed her and now he will not have to pay for college.
On the day of Xavier Jones’ eighth-grade graduation from the Yeatman Middle School, no one in his family was able to get him to the ceremony over six miles away.
On Tuesday, May 23, the resilient 14-year-old did not let that deter him from getting his diploma.
Determined to attend the promotion ceremony, he, his brother, and a friend all agreed to walk the distance from his home on Florissant Avenue to the midtown campus of HSSU, where the program was being held.
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“I was going to tell an adult, but my grandpa’s car was down. So, I was just going to walk there,” Jones said in an interview with KMOV.
Instead, he said, “I looked up Harris Stowe University on Google Maps, and then I saw the walking distance, and then I said I could probably make it.”
His grandfather nor the school staff were aware of Jones’ decision to walk and were shocked to discover the goal that was set and met by the teen.
When asked what motivated him to make the trek, Jones, who was promoted with a 4.0, simply said, “I wanted to walk across the stage.”
The teen, who wants to be a NASCAR driver, told KSDK he also wanted to get all his “awards and stuff.”
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