Photo Courtesy of Instagram (@jwlkrrrr)
It’s a lucky year for a Rutherford Senior High School student in Panama City, FL.
Jonathan Walker was accepted into all 27 colleges and universities he applied to and received up to $4 million in scholarships.
“It’s so crazy to think about that I applied to all these colleges, and I got in,” Walker told CBS Miami. “That’s such a rare thing to occur, but the fact that it did happen, I’m so excited about it.”
The schools that he got accepted into include several Ivy League universities like Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania. The 18-year-old completed college-level courses in the International Baccalaureate Program, a program high school students get involved with to receive college credits while playing on his school football team. When Walker didn’t have his nose in a textbook, he also invented a device that helps deaf and blind people, which is in the process of being patented.
“I’ve always loved creating devices to help people, so I definitely wanna further that.”
On top of keeping an outstanding academic record, Walker gave insight into what it takes for students to get in his position.
“It’s really just like writing a set of essays for one college and then from there like tweaking them specifically for the colleges.”
Walker does not know where his decision lies regarding what university he will attend. Still, he did leave some advice for students who want to succeed, which applies to those who want to succeed academically or just in life. Walker says to “keep grinding no matter.”
Walker also claims that his family is what motivates him.
“I really do look up to them because, like, they showed me what it’s like to be passionate about something.”
According to an Instagram post dating back to Oct. 11, 2021, Walker was his school’s homecoming king.