He’s not just any teen from Oakland, CA that loves listening to music and play basketball. When most people see 17-year-old Akintunde Ahmad, they find it hard to believe he has earned a 5.0 GPA, a 2100 SAT score and acceptance into almost every Ivy League school in the nation.
Ahmad, who describes himself as a “street dude,” admits that he is often judged by his 6-foot-1 frame and waist-long dreads. In fact, the Oakland teen has been underestimated by his peers to the point where only cellphone images of his grades and test scores provide the most viable proof.
According to ABC, Ahmad — who attends Oakland Tech High in northern California — has been accepted into a number of prestigious schools including Yale, Brown, Columbia, Northwestern, the University of Southern California, UCLA and Howard, among others.
Aside from his exceptional academic record, Ahmad also plays three instruments and is a star athlete on his school’s baseball team. So much so, that he has even been approached by Yale about joining the university’s team.
“Every school he applied to is already Division 1, so he wasn’t taking a step down as far as baseball is concerned,” baseball coach Bryan Bassette told ABC.
Growing up in Oakland also exposed Ahmad to a street crime and cases of gun violence. One particular and unfortunate event involved his brother, Azeem, who invited him to a party one night that resulted in five people shot — one of them his brother.
Oakland Teen Pushes Past Stereotypes To Ivy Leagues was originally published on blackdoctor.org
