‘I’m proud of myself’ – Memphis teen receives more than $8 million in scholarships

Xzorion Harris, a senior at Whitehaven High School in Memphis, Tennessee, received more than $8 million in scholarship offers, according to ABC24 News. Students at Whitehaven have been doing well academically and so far this year, Whitehaven seniors have received at least $50 million in scholarships and counting.

Harris is one of 46 Whitehaven seniors to receive more than $1 million in scholarships. “For most of our students, it’s the expectation, so it’s not surprising. When you go as far as Xzorion has gone, it’s mind-blowing,” Akita Banger Gray, Senior English teacher and Dual Enrollment Specialist, told ABC24 News.

Harris’ scholarship offers came in from over 100 schools, an achievement that surprised him.

“It would surprise me because I didn’t expect a Black kid from Memphis to get stuff like that. I think it says a lot about me. I’m proud of myself. It shows that I’m a dedicated hardworking person,” he said.

Harris got the 5th highest amount of scholarships in the history of the school and the largest of any male student.

“Two words that come to mind: resilience and motivated. These are some resilient little babies,” Professional School Counselor Lisa Fletcher said of Whitehaven’s million-dollar scholars. “Given everything that has gone on, they’ve come in here. They know the expectation. It wasn’t hard for them to settle back in and get going and doing what is expected of them and creating those opportunities for them and their families.”

With so many options, Harris chose to go to Tuskegee University “because it’s an HBCU and they have a good engineering program.”

The teen has a piece of advice for others who would want to be like him. “Being dedicated, you have to not only do it, but do it at the best you can do and be the best that you can be. Put in your full effort into whatever you’re doing,” he said.