He slept in homeless shelters as a kid. Now he's going to Harvard on a full ride

• When he was a kid, Richard Jenkins raised his hand in class so often bullies started calling him "Harvard." "It was their way of taunting me, like, 'Oh, you think you're so smart," he said.
• Jenkins, 18, faced a multitude of difficulties growing up, including poverty, medical emergencies and harassment from his classmates. But he turned these obstacles into motivation to create a better future for himself and his family. He and his two younger brothers were homeless for two years after their mother lost their home to foreclosure, forcing them to move to Tennessee and then to Florida before heading back to Philadelphia.
• Despite suffering from severe migraines, which landed him in the hospital during his freshman year, Jenkins stayed on top of his schoolwork.
• [After transferring to a new school in the 11th grade, Girard College], a boarding school open only to financially needy kids, Jenkins joined the mock trial program, the World Affairs Council and the basketball team. He also started Makers' Space Club, an area with 3D printers, sewing machines and other DIY equipment students can use to bring their ideas to life.
• Penn? Wait-listed. Yale? Denied. "I thought, 'Alright, time to start looking at other school options,'" he said. "Then I opened up Harvard and threw my phone because I saw the word 'welcome.'" It was even better than that. Jenkins also was awarded a full, need-based scholarship and a stipend for room and board. He is graduating as valedictorian in June and plans to study computer science, with a special interest in artificial intelligence.
• As college application season came, Jenkins decided to try Harvard -- along with other Ivy League schools -- after receiving an email from them. He was visiting Paris on a school trip in late March when he learned of the schools' decisions.
• Jenkins, mindful of his own arduous journey, has advice to other kids with big dreams. "There's going to be times when you'll stumble off the track or think you don't want to continue," he said, "but as long as you stick to the plan, you'll be fine."

• Harvard didn't make him eschew superfluous distractions and keep focused on his studies where it belonged. Jenkins did that.
• Harvard didn't give him a spot on the basketball team or make him unselfishly start an extracurricular club to nurture not only his interests but also his peers'.
• Harvard didn't send him to Paris, which is pricey to go to and pricey to be in, yet he went there.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins "read the writing on the wall," pay close attention to it, and heed it, discerning that AI is where the future is in IT and that IT ain't going away anytime soon, so being a creator of AI rather than being subject to AI is a prudent bet for ensuring he's got a promising and long career path ahead of himself. In my world of economics, we call that "economically rational" behavior because consistent with the way "the system" works in the U.S., it positions him to someday be an entrepreneur, which is something AI will not eclipse.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins and his mom avail themselves of opportunity when it knocked.

Xelor said:

There is no such thing as "can't." There is only "won't."
-- Xelor to all four of my kids.​

Below are some notable excerpts from the news story "He slept in homeless shelters as a kid. Now he's going to Harvard on a full ride" about a young man in Philly, Richard Jenkins, who, by doing precisely what's expected of every kid, has achieved exactly what far too many kids up and down the spectrum of American society don't work hard enough to make happen for themselves.

• When he was a kid, Richard Jenkins raised his hand in class so often bullies started calling him "Harvard." "It was their way of taunting me, like, 'Oh, you think you're so smart," he said.
• Jenkins, 18, faced a multitude of difficulties growing up, including poverty, medical emergencies and harassment from his classmates. But he turned these obstacles into motivation to create a better future for himself and his family. He and his two younger brothers were homeless for two years after their mother lost their home to foreclosure, forcing them to move to Tennessee and then to Florida before heading back to Philadelphia.
• Despite suffering from severe migraines, which landed him in the hospital during his freshman year, Jenkins stayed on top of his schoolwork.
• [After transferring to a new school in the 11th grade, Girard College], a boarding school open only to financially needy kids, Jenkins joined the mock trial program, the World Affairs Council and the basketball team. He also started Makers' Space Club, an area with 3D printers, sewing machines and other DIY equipment students can use to bring their ideas to life.
• Penn? Wait-listed. Yale? Denied. "I thought, 'Alright, time to start looking at other school options,'" he said. "Then I opened up Harvard and threw my phone because I saw the word 'welcome.'" It was even better than that. Jenkins also was awarded a full, need-based scholarship and a stipend for room and board. He is graduating as valedictorian in June and plans to study computer science, with a special interest in artificial intelligence.
• As college application season came, Jenkins decided to try Harvard -- along with other Ivy League schools -- after receiving an email from them. He was visiting Paris on a school trip in late March when he learned of the schools' decisions.
• Jenkins, mindful of his own arduous journey, has advice to other kids with big dreams. "There's going to be times when you'll stumble off the track or think you don't want to continue," he said, "but as long as you stick to the plan, you'll be fine."

Let's get one thing straight: Jenkin's earning admission to Harvard isn't what's impressive. That young man's impressiveness is something he created and made happen, not something the admissions team at Harvard gave him.

• Harvard didn't make him eschew superfluous distractions and keep focused on his studies where it belonged. Jenkins did that.
• Harvard didn't give him a spot on the basketball team or make him unselfishly start an extracurricular club to nurture not only his interests but also his peers'.
• Harvard didn't send him to Paris, which is pricey to go to and pricey to be in, yet he went there.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins "read the writing on the wall," pay close attention to it, and heed it, discerning that AI is where the future is in IT and that IT ain't going away anytime soon, so being a creator of AI rather than being subject to AI is a prudent bet for ensuring he's got a promising and long career path ahead of himself. In my world of economics, we call that "economically rational" behavior because consistent with the way "the system" works in the U.S., it positions him to someday be an entrepreneur, which is something AI will not eclipse.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins and his mom avail themselves of opportunity when it knocked.

Seeing Jenkins' story should be more than adequate motivation for any kid, and adults too. Far too many people, kids and adults, face far fewer challenges and perform less admirably. And then they wonder why they "can't get ahead."

So the next time you or someone you know starts in on what they can't do, tell them about Richard Jenkins. Then tell them that the only thing they can't do is that which they won't do.

Click to expand...

Xelor said:

There is no such thing as "can't." There is only "won't."
-- Xelor to all four of my kids.​

Below are some notable excerpts from the news story "He slept in homeless shelters as a kid. Now he's going to Harvard on a full ride" about a young man in Philly, Richard Jenkins, who, by doing precisely what's expected of every kid, has achieved exactly what far too many kids up and down the spectrum of American society don't work hard enough to make happen for themselves.

• When he was a kid, Richard Jenkins raised his hand in class so often bullies started calling him "Harvard." "It was their way of taunting me, like, 'Oh, you think you're so smart," he said.
• Jenkins, 18, faced a multitude of difficulties growing up, including poverty, medical emergencies and harassment from his classmates. But he turned these obstacles into motivation to create a better future for himself and his family. He and his two younger brothers were homeless for two years after their mother lost their home to foreclosure, forcing them to move to Tennessee and then to Florida before heading back to Philadelphia.
• Despite suffering from severe migraines, which landed him in the hospital during his freshman year, Jenkins stayed on top of his schoolwork.
• [After transferring to a new school in the 11th grade, Girard College], a boarding school open only to financially needy kids, Jenkins joined the mock trial program, the World Affairs Council and the basketball team. He also started Makers' Space Club, an area with 3D printers, sewing machines and other DIY equipment students can use to bring their ideas to life.
• Penn? Wait-listed. Yale? Denied. "I thought, 'Alright, time to start looking at other school options,'" he said. "Then I opened up Harvard and threw my phone because I saw the word 'welcome.'" It was even better than that. Jenkins also was awarded a full, need-based scholarship and a stipend for room and board. He is graduating as valedictorian in June and plans to study computer science, with a special interest in artificial intelligence.
• As college application season came, Jenkins decided to try Harvard -- along with other Ivy League schools -- after receiving an email from them. He was visiting Paris on a school trip in late March when he learned of the schools' decisions.
• Jenkins, mindful of his own arduous journey, has advice to other kids with big dreams. "There's going to be times when you'll stumble off the track or think you don't want to continue," he said, "but as long as you stick to the plan, you'll be fine."

Let's get one thing straight: Jenkin's earning admission to Harvard isn't what's impressive. That young man's impressiveness is something he created and made happen, not something the admissions team at Harvard gave him.

• Harvard didn't make him eschew superfluous distractions and keep focused on his studies where it belonged. Jenkins did that.
• Harvard didn't give him a spot on the basketball team or make him unselfishly start an extracurricular club to nurture not only his interests but also his peers'.
• Harvard didn't send him to Paris, which is pricey to go to and pricey to be in, yet he went there.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins "read the writing on the wall," pay close attention to it, and heed it, discerning that AI is where the future is in IT and that IT ain't going away anytime soon, so being a creator of AI rather than being subject to AI is a prudent bet for ensuring he's got a promising and long career path ahead of himself. In my world of economics, we call that "economically rational" behavior because consistent with the way "the system" works in the U.S., it positions him to someday be an entrepreneur, which is something AI will not eclipse.
• Harvard didn't make Jenkins and his mom avail themselves of opportunity when it knocked.

Seeing Jenkins' story should be more than adequate motivation for any kid, and adults too. Far too many people, kids and adults, face far fewer challenges and perform less admirably. And then they wonder why they "can't get ahead."

So the next time you or someone you know starts in on what they can't do, tell them about Richard Jenkins. Then tell them that the only thing they can't do is that which they won't do.

Click to expand...

Northern Light said:

I appreciated the inspirational anecdote right up to the point where the lecture about upward social mobility started. You know... the whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps thing.

It's a bit eye roll worthy. Yes it's always good to try and even try hard but social mobility has hit a modern low recently. The economy is not as good as they are telling us. I know people who have been job searching for over a year and now they have to get jobs at Target, after making salaries in the corporate world. Student loan debt in the 100K+ range doesn't help anyone either.

Some people are very lucky and with effort they make it. Others don't. It's a bit resentful to chalk it all up to laziness.

Click to expand...

Checkerboard Strangler said:

All we need to do is expand this.
ALL kids who can demonstrate:

Ability to benefit
Ambition
Need (means testing)

should be able to access secondary education at a community college or university.
It is indisputable that education is the best means of eliminating poverty.

Click to expand...

Beaudreaux said:

It's posts like that that keep you from getting invited to the cool threads. Just saying.

Click to expand...

Hawkeye10 said:

N.L. does not need anyone's permission to go where they please. Just saying.

Click to expand...

Beaudreaux said:

It's posts like that that keep you from getting invited to the cool threads. Just saying.

Click to expand...

Hawkeye10 said:

In exchange for national service....Military, teaching needy kids, doing medical in the middle of no where or the VA...that sort of thing.

If they dont want to then they can pay the freight.

Click to expand...

Checkerboard Strangler said:

All we need to do is expand this.
ALL kids who can demonstrate:

Ability to benefit
Ambition
Need (means testing)

should be able to access secondary education at a community college or university.
It is indisputable that education is the best means of eliminating poverty.

Click to expand...

Beaudreaux said:

This kid is the QED for my signature below.

Click to expand...

• I checked out the curriculum at Girard. It's the same "old school" curriculum that forms the baseline at the so-called elite high schools. That Jenkins graduated with damn near exactly the same classes the nation's "fancy" kids did and got into Harvard indicates that for whatever their backgrounds, family situations, wealth, etc., there's nothing really stopping kids from going to fine school. So now, Jenkins, with his very humble beginnings, is in the same boat as his classmates. He and they will rise to the occasion and opportunity they've been given or they will not.
  
  What does that tell me? It informs me that it's one's effort that makes the difference in where s/he is going, in school as much as in life.
• Following from my observation that Girard's curriculum is really quite basic and what Jenkins was able to accomplish in that environment, it's clear that one doesn't need a fancy school/education to thrive.
  • Schools -- public or private -- need only offer a simple but well delivered curriculum that teaches kids the same basic subject matters that time has shown are all that's really needed. This observation suggests to me that public schools can find cost savings by paring back the scholastic variety and use that money to pay higher teacher salaries, afford smaller class sizes, and provide critical support services kids from less privileged environments need.
    
    It's nice that a school offers, say, differential equations, but do high schoolers need to learn that? No. Speaking from my own experience, the only time in my life I've had any need for diff was when I was working on my dissertation; that was also the last time I needed that skill. In contrast, concepts, but not the need to perform calculations, from calculus come about every time the topic of change arises. Frankly, I think far too many public schools offer classes that too few students take and that just aren't necessary at the high school level.
  • One need only make the most of what comes one's way.
• Jenkins didn't get into Penn or Yale. I'm sure he was somewhat disappointed about that, but he didn't haul off suing the school because he didn't get in. The young man is clearly qualified to attend any school that'll admit him, and even he didn't get into every school to which he applied. What I'm getting at is that if the "claptrap" about affirmative action being unfair to white kids had any legitimacy, Jenkins would have been admitted to every school to which he applied. (My kids applied to a bunch of "fancy" colleges, and save for my daughter, they got into some and not others; it be's like "dat." Like Jenkins, they didn't sue any school because they didn't get admitted.)

Checkerboard Strangler said:

I'd be in favor of looking at that on a case by case basis because if a kid's attending college and they're the only other means of support in the family, they're going to want to get back home and start helping out as soon as they can, and in some cases, that's the best option, because it prevents the rest of a needy family from falling apart while Junior is pulling himself up.
They can always come back and do a once a week or once a month volunteer gig over a period of time.
If they graduate with killer scores and a top outfit wants to offer them a good paying secure job right out of school, I'd say that's a pretty significant payback in and of itself. Don't forget, in this fast moving world, what they learn in 2018 might be worthless in 2024 if they don't start using it right away.

I was taught how to administer Novell Networks, but you barely see any Novell systems today.
Four years after I left that course, Novell had all but disappeared in the IT world.

Click to expand...

Northern Light said:

I appreciated the inspirational anecdote right up to the point where the lecture about upward social mobility started. You know... the whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps thing.

It's a bit eye roll worthy. Yes it's always good to try and even try hard but social mobility has hit a modern low recently. The economy is not as good as they are telling us. I know people who have been job searching for over a year and now they have to get jobs at Target, after making salaries in the corporate world. Student loan debt in the 100K+ range doesn't help anyone either.

Some people are very lucky and with effort they make it. Others don't. It's a bit resentful to chalk it all up to laziness.

Click to expand...

Beaudreaux said:

It's posts like that that keep you from getting invited to the cool threads. Just saying.

Click to expand...

Northern Light said:

I appreciated the inspirational anecdote right up to the point where the lecture about upward social mobility started. You know... the whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps thing.

It's a bit eye roll worthy. Yes it's always good to try and even try hard but social mobility has hit a modern low recently. The economy is not as good as they are telling us. I know people who have been job searching for over a year and now they have to get jobs at Target, after making salaries in the corporate world. Student loan debt in the 100K+ range doesn't help anyone either.

Some people are very lucky and with effort they make it. Others don't. It's a bit resentful to chalk it all up to laziness.

Click to expand...

Xelor said:

Sure he was great, but don't forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did, ...backwards and in high heels.
-- Bob Thaves​

Click to expand...

Hawkeye10 said:

In exchange for national service....Military, teaching needy kids, doing medical in the middle of no where or the VA...that sort of thing.

If they dont want to then they can pay the freight.

Click to expand...

• Navy ROTC schools -- My middle son chose to do Navy ROTC because he wanted to go into the Navy anyway. I don't know much about other ROTC programs, but the Navy's is outstanding from what I can tell. What I liked about his going into the Navy (or any military branch) is that it's an "up or out" service. I think it's important that kids learn ASAP the importance of "passing muster" on a continual basis throughout their lives/careers, and since the professional world into which he'll go if/when he leaves the Navy will be that way too, he may as well get used to it from the get go.
• Army ROTC schools
• Air Force ROTC schools
• Student Loan Forgiveness Programs

Chomsky said:

Awesome quote! :thumbs:

Click to expand...

Northern Light said:

The story was cool, the commentary was patronizing.

Next time someone tells me they can't do it, I won't tell them a story about how someone else did better than them and "you wonder why you can't get ahead". I will instead ask them why they feel they can't do it and try to help them from there. Everyone has a different story with a different set of circumstances. :shrug:

Click to expand...

Northern Light said:

I appreciated the inspirational anecdote right up to the point where the lecture about upward social mobility started. You know... the whole pull yourself up by your bootstraps thing.

It's a bit eye roll worthy. Yes it's always good to try and even try hard but social mobility has hit a modern low recently. The economy is not as good as they are telling us. I know people who have been job searching for over a year and now they have to get jobs at Target, after making salaries in the corporate world. Student loan debt in the 100K+ range doesn't help anyone either.

Some people are very lucky and with effort they make it. Others don't. It's a bit resentful to chalk it all up to laziness.

Click to expand...

Beaudreaux said:

Everyone has a different level of capability. That level is mostly constrained by their own choices. There is a difference between constraint of movement upward and the restriction of maximum attainability based on capability. No one, not even the OP, is saying everyone can be a Harvard grad. What we are saying, and correctly, is that if the kid in the OP had believed what our society is continually stating, that he was being held down and oppressed by forces beyond his control, and that there was nothing he could do about it, and that it was someone else that was responsible to raise him up and provide for him, that he would never had been able to achieve what he did.

That dichotomy in life view is what this thread is all about, IMHO. Are we responsible for our own lot in life, or is someone else? Do we have the duty to be responsible for our own choices or is that the duty of someone else? Can we really make it out of the place we find ourselves, or is it someone else that is responsible to maintain me and my life?

Not everyone has the mental capability to excel to Harvard, but everyone has the ability to chose not to and blame other people or other circumstances for that inability. The inability is fueled by our own refusal to do those things that have to be done to succeed. The level of success is only limited by our own limitations, either self imposed or naturally limited ability.

Not everyone can be an NFL player, but everyone can try to be a football player. There was a kid in the NFL combine this year that only had one arm. How many times in his life, would you suppose, that some adult told him that he'd never make it to the NFL because of his missing limb? Like the kid in the OP, he didn't allow the circumstances of his birth to determine the outcome of his life.

That, I will gladly tell anyone that says they "can't do" something. Maybe they can't, but if they never try, they damned sure won't.

Click to expand...