Photo: Michael Short, The Chronicle
Akintude Ahmad (pictured), a high school senior in Oakland, Calif., has been accepted in to several Ivy League schools thanks to his 5.0 GPA and 2,100 SAT score, but even with all of his academic success, he remains grounded and thinks of himself as a regular guy.
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Akintude is one of six children raised by his parents, Zarina and Mubarak Ahmad. His mother is the principal of Piedmont Avenue Elementary School and his father is a mechanic for AC-Transit. His family practices the Rastafari religion and has taught their children the importance of hard work and education.
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At 17-years-old, Ahmad is a student athlete and talented musician. Throughout his high school career he has played basketball and baseball. He decided to focus on baseball his senior year and plans to play for the college of his choice.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “He was the MVP of the Oakland Athletic League baseball in 2013, hitting around .500 with 15 or so stolen bases.”
He is also a member of the Young Musicians Choral Orchestra and plays the trumpet, French horn, and the West African drum, djembe.
But despite his academic and athletic achievements, he has often been judged and overlooked based on his appearance. His 6’1″ height and long locs often draw others to make assumptions that are simply not true.
“People looking at me funny is so common that it doesn’t stick out for me anymore,” Ahmad says. He’s even taken to keeping a picture of his GPA and SAT scores on his phone to quiet the critics. “It’s something that I’ve gotten used to.”
“I’ll leave this school and there will be teachers who never knew I was one of the people on the honor roll.
Ahmad is leaning toward pre-med or pre-law for his undergraduate career and has a lot of deciding to do with offers from schools like Yale, Brown, UCLA, and more. Either way, he’s sure to flourish wherever he chooses to attend.
Watch Ahmad’s story here:
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