Curtis Lawrence III is set to graduate after making history at his HBCU.
At 16 years old, Lawrence’s bright future was solidified after he was accepted into 14 esteemed colleges, which included Harvard University, Yale University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Morgan State University, and University of California Berkeley, as CBS News notes. He also received $1.6 million in scholarships at the time.
“We’ve taught them from an early age that education is key to opening up the opportunities and having access to things that they want to life,” his father, Curtis Lawrence Jr., told CBS News.
Choosing dual-enrollment for his last two years of high school, Lawrence III started taking both high school and college classes at George Washington University in Washington, DC, in 2019. Doing so at 14 years old, he made history as its youngest freshman, the Tallahassee Democrat reports. In 2021, he continued his studies as a junior at HBCU Florida A&M University (FAMU) and also made history once again as its youngest student.
“The support that I have from the university is one of the main reasons why I ended up choosing to come here,” Lawrence explained, per the Tallahassee Democrat. “The level of community is unique to FAMU and HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) in general. Whatever problem I have, there’s always someone I can go to.”
Now, Lawrence is set to walk the stage as a biology major and liberal arts minor at 20 years old. Looking ahead, he wants to water his interest in ecology and evolutionary biology and is considering a career in academia.
“The four years that I’ve been here, I’ve done a lot and I’ve changed a lot as a person, and I’m prepared to go on to the next chapter,” he explained, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
University Scholarship Program Director Dedra O’Neal expressed:
“We don’t get to engage students of Curtis’s caliber on a day-to-day basis. I’m so proud of him and am thankful that his parents entrusted Florida A&M University with their 16-year-old son.”
