Harvard bound Lloyd Chen excelled in school despite being raised in poverty after his father abandoned his sick wife and their three children
After dropping her kids off at school, the mother would wait in the parking lot until classes were let out in order to save on gas. Here is a kid from a poverty stricken family who instead of whining about his lot in life, excelled by doing his best to learn what his schools had to offer him.
CALIFORNIA TEEN WHO GREW UP PENNILESS AFTER FATHER ABANDONED HIS MOTHER AND TWO SISTERS OFFERED SCHOLARSHIPS WORTH $3 MILLION FROM NINE ELITE UNIVERSITIES
Father left family shortly after they arrived from South Korea; sick mother would wait at school all day to save petrol money
By Steve Robson
Mail Online
June 6, 2013
A Californian teenager who grew up in poverty after his father abandoned his mother and two siblings has been offered nearly $3 million from nine elite universities who want him to join.
Lloyd Chen, 17, has received full scholarships to Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego and UC Davis.
After graduating last week with a 4.79 GPA, he has decided to go to Harvard which has just a 6 per cent acceptance rate.
It is a remarkable feat for a young man who has had to endure a difficult childhood.
Shortly after he arrived in California from South Korea, his father abandoned the family leaving his mother Susie Yun to bring up Lloyd and his two older sisters Jenny and Sally alone.
With his mother unable to work because of an autoimmune deficiency, money was extremely tight.
But Lloyd did not let his hardships hold him back, transferring to Mira Loma High School, 20 miles from his home, so he could enter its intensive baccalaureate program.
Sometimes after dropping Lloyd off at school, Ms Yun would wait in the parking lot all day to save petrol money.
The dedicated student buckled down with his studies and, after moving to Laguna Creek after his freshman year, Lloyd was made the school's valedictorian of the class of 2013.
In his valedictorian speech, he told his classmates: 'It is your choice to have a fulfilling life.'
His high school counselor Alycia Sato said Lloyd always came across as a mature student.
She told NBC Los Angeles: 'I’ve never met anyone who’s had so many things going against them, who’s risen above them all.'
She added that Lloyd never revealed the difficulties he faced until his senior year when he began
discussing college applications because 'he didn't want anyone to pity him'.
'I never felt like I had hardships until senior year when I reflected on my whole life and tried to figure out my life story,' Lloyd told KCRA.
In a touching display of humility, after learning of his nine scholarship offers, Lloyd sent Ms Sato a message which read: 'This is our success.'
In his college applications, Lloyd wrote: 'Throughout my life, I've learned to grow up without luxuries.'
'I don't need fancy clothes. I don't need expensive SAT classes. I don't even need a father.'
'I have something more valuable than luxuries: the foundation to grow and prosper. My circumstances have not brought me down, but instead, have made me stronger.'
Being offered the opportunity to go to Harvard is the perfect reward for the 17-year-old.
'It's been my dream since I was 8 years old,' he told the Sacramento Bee.
After Harvard, Lloyd plans to go on and earn a masters degree. And, thanks to a Gates Millennium Scholarship, he won’t have to pay for tuition, room and board, or book fees throughout graduate school.
He says he is considering studying economics, psychology or engineering.
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