Memphis, TN — Lamyrical Harris, a teenage mother and a high school senior student in Tennessee, has recently graduated as the valedictorian of her class. She was also offered over $1 million in scholarships from several schools. She achieved it all despite the challenges that come with being a young mom.
Harris, who graduated this year from Trezevant High School, has earned a total of $1,244,298 in scholarships, reportedly the highest in the school’s history, according to school administration.
“While we’ve had some amazing athletes throughout Trezevant history, she is the first to earn this amount solely in academic scholarships,” said in their congratulatory Facebook post for Harris.
Prior to having those achievements, Harris somehow experienced a setback when she learned that she was pregnant in junior year. She, later on, gave birth to a baby boy named Laderrious.
“I was scared. It just made me go 10 times harder,” she told WREG-TV.
But Harris didn’t let it get to her. By the end of junior year, she had been offered $200,000 in scholarship money. Another $500,000 scholarships offer came during her senior year and it rose to over $1 million just before her high school graduation.
“Lamyrical had to overcome many obstacles to arrive at the top of her class. Now she gets to celebrate with her son and we can’t wait to see her future success,” the school wrote.
With the number of schools vying for her, Harris hasn’t decided yet which school to go to college but she has already narrowed down her list to 25 schools. She also hopes to give back to her alma mater in the future.
“We are proud of the outstanding achievements and determination of our graduating class of 2019. It takes a village. Against much adversity, students like Lamyrical Harris triumph with the devout support of caring teachers, administrators and parents,” Shelby County Schools Superintendent Dr. Joris M. Ray said in a statement.