It may be hard to believe that in 2020 there are still so many Black people achieving firsts, but high school senior Timi Adelakun is one of the latest to join the list by becoming the first Black valedictorian at his Florida high school.
Adelakun, 18, secured valedictorian status at South Broward High School in Hollywood, Florida, with an unheard-of 5.604 GPA.
Throughout high school, Adelakun balanced his schoolwork with serving as a biology tutor and in different groups, including Thespian Honor Society, Drama Club, Physics Club (he was vice president) and Science National Honor Society.
Adelakun was able to achieve his extraordinary GPA by taking a mixture of more than 20 AP and “My school offers three types of college-level courses, and that’s how I was able to get the GPA high,” he said of his course load.
“Pomona College is a liberal arts college, which basically means that you’re able to pursue different subjects at the same time almost like you’re going to two completely different schools,” said Adelakun.