A New Orleans teen is being celebrated for being offered $9 million in college scholarships.
Current Events :
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, 18-year-old Dennis Barnes, a senior at International High School of New Orleans, received acceptance letters from 125 colleges and was offered more than $9 million in scholarships. That’s more than any other college-bound senior in US history. And, he’s not done as more decision responses are still coming in from other schools.
Now, the New Orleans teen, who is Black, is in the Guinness Book of World Records for breaking the previous record which was held by a Lafayette, Louisiana teen who received $8.7 million in scholarships in 2019. However, Barnes’ goal is to reach $10 million in offered scholarships by the end of the month.
Barnes was a natural to win the honor. Not only has he maintained a cumulative grade point overage of 4.98 at his high school, but is fluent in Spanish and received an official qualification from the Institute Cervantes on behalf of Spain’s Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports. He was also recently awarded the Jose Luis Baños Award for Excellence in Spanish Language by Maria Page, Honorary Consul of Spain in New Orleans, and holds leadership positions in the National Honor Society.
If that wasn’t enough, Barnes has already started earning college credits at Southern University of New Orleans while completing his high school degree for the past 2 years.
“I’m elated at the moment. This is something I would have never thought I would have accomplished,” Barnes said. “My counselor saw something in me that pushed me to exceed expectations.
“I submitted college applications in August, with an eye on raising the bar high for college admissions. Decision letters were an overflow in my mailbox and hundreds of scholarship offers,” he added.
“I know that he has big ambitions, big goals and I believe with everything in me that he’s going to achieve all of it,” his mother said.
Barnes will graduate high school on May 24th and plans to pursue a dual undergraduate degree in computer science and criminal justice. He expects to make a decision on his college of choice soon.
We celebrate Dennis Barnes and his enormous accomplishments and wish him well in all his future endeavors.
OK WASSUP! covers Current Events:
A New Orleans teen breaks scholarship record.
DJ, thank you for sharing this incredible story!
What an incredible young man!
Suffice it to say that I do not know this young man personally. But stories like his fills me with such joy that words simply cannot express how much I hope and pray he goes forth and conquers in pursuit of his dreams.